


Confession

by secooper87



Series: The Child of Balime [31]
Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Doctor Who
Genre: Action/Adventure, Crossover, Drama
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-02
Updated: 2014-01-19
Packaged: 2018-01-07 03:31:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 30,890
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1114969
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/secooper87/pseuds/secooper87
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dawn teams up with IPSA agent Deborah Raykins, as they strive to save Seo from the Daleks.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Happy New Year!
> 
> Thanks for the break! I finally got the chance to finish writing a first draft of every single story in this next season. And your reviews were very nice and made me very happy. I'm glad so many are continuing to read.
> 
> On to the start of Season 3!
> 
> Enjoy!

_The video hologram flickered on._

_And a woman's face appeared in the air. She looked tired. Worn out._

_"My name… is Deborah Raykins," she announced. "For everyone who doesn't know." She paused. Looked away from the camera. "But I have a feeling, if you're watching this… you do know. You're out looking for me. And you're hoping this recording… is some kind of video confession."_

_She paused, a long moment._

_Then looked back at the camera._

_"So here's your confession," Raykins said. "I, Deborah Raykins, am about to become a traitor and a criminal. Starting tomorrow." She gave a shaky laugh. "Seems weird, saying it out loud."_

_She planted a smile on her face, but it seemed forced._

_"That's what you did to me, Dawn!" Raykins told the camera. "You and your niece. When you died, and I couldn't…"_

_The sadness grew even deeper._

_And she looked away from the camera._

_"I can't get you back," said Raykins. "But I'm gonna do this… in your memories. To make sure… you two didn't die in vain."_

* * *

"…just hearing about what happened to Seo and the others, during that Year that Never Was," Dawn continued. "I mean… geeze. Why didn't we remember any of that?"

Buffy lounged at her kitchen table, coffee in hand. "Because I died, apparently," she said. "And because none of the rest of us were onboard the Valiant at the end — not like Jack, Martha, and the Joneses. We think… Seo only remembered what happened during that Year because she grew up surrounded by cracks to other realities." She sipped the coffee. "And I remember Amy telling me what happens to people who grow up with cracks in their bedroom walls."

Dawn sighed. "What a thing to remember."

"Jack and Martha have been talking to her a lot, since she got back," said Buffy. "I think it's helping."

"At least Seo won in the end," Dawn put in. "She beat the Master at his own game."

Buffy shot her sister a hard glare. "Seo's death is never a 'win'," she snapped. Clunked the coffee cup down on the table. "I don't care how many people or planets she saved. Whom she was facing. My daughter should _never_ have to die to win. End of story."

Dawn hesitated. "I… didn't mean it like…"

The tension dropped from Buffy. And she looked… tired. "It's hard hearing about it," Buffy admitted. "Hearing… she… _killed_ herself. Died forever. They saw her body."

Dawn bit her lower lip. Looked away.

"And I know she did it to save Martha and the universe," Buffy continued. "But then I get nightmares… of her dead… of her dying…" Buffy shuddered. "And I think I'd give up most of the universe to keep her alive. She's worth it."

Dawn gave her a friendly smack on the arm. "Listen to you! You're such a _mom_ , now." She leaned back on her chair. Then added, "Whatever you say… I'm still proud of her. For winning."

"She didn't think of it as winning, either," said Buffy. "Jack said Seo thinks of that as her greatest defeat. It's why…" She stopped. Looked down into her coffee. "It's why Seo was so obsessed with saving Drusilla."

"Drusilla?" said Dawn.

Buffy glanced up at her, pointedly. "Jack says the Master spent months torturing Seo and trying to destroy everything she knew and loved, so she'd turn evil. And the first thing Seo saw, after that 'Year that Never Was' got reversed, was Angelus doing exactly the same thing to Drusilla."

Dawn's eyes went a little wider.

"No wonder Seo wanted to save her," Buffy muttered. "If only just to prove… someone like that didn't need to die. No sacrifice needed to be made."

Except that, with Drusilla, a sacrifice did need to be made.

Sometimes that death is necessary.

Was that what the Doctor was trying to show her all along?

"Did the Doctor know Seo remembered?" Dawn asked. "Because if he did, sending her to face the Angelus and Drusilla thing just seems really harsh, and…" She trailed off. "Uh… Buffy? You okay?"

Buffy was just staring into the distance, a hand on her head, a glossy look passing over her. Then she blinked, and seemed to notice Dawn. Gave a shaky smile.

"Yeah, fine," said Buffy, hand resting down by her coffee cup. "What were we talking about?"

Dawn raised her eyebrows.

"I'm fine," Buffy insisted. "Just a head cold. I'll take the Tylenol-tissues-chicken-soup treatment and feel better in the morning."

They were interrupted by Seo bursting through the door, racing into the apartment and grabbing Dawn up out of her chair.

"Got to go!" Seo said. "Now!"

Dawn tried to resist, pulling back. "Seo, I think, for your own sake, we should—"

"Drive me mad?!" Seo shouted. Gesturing, wildly. "I've had it up to here with people trying to get me to 'open up about my feelings'!" She yanked Dawn by the arm, dragging her across the apartment. "Next person who talks to me about that bloody year, I'm flinging them into the time vortex to be lost in time and space forever! Now let's _go_!"

Buffy watched as Dawn flailed in Seo's grip, and was dragged out of the apartment. The door slamming shut behind them.

For a few seconds, Buffy said nothing. Did nothing.

Then she got up, went to her computer to look up the number to the hospital. "Glowing green energy around Dawn and Seo," Buffy muttered. "That clinches it." She flipped out her cell phone, punched in the number. "Whatever these are, they're not just headaches."

* * *

Hrequor double-checked to make sure the way was clear, before gesturing to the woman behind him, and darting forwards across the open area. The cold night air stung his skin and burned his throat, as they made their way down towards the bunker door.

"I don't know why I'm risking this for you," Hrequor muttered to the woman, as he punched in the codes. The bunker opened, and he ushered her inside, locking the door behind him.

The woman was already setting up a disruptor array for the cameras and monitoring equipment, tuning it to the correct frequency and then leaving it by the front entrance.

"I told you," said the woman. "I'm going to get rid of all the Daleks on your planet. Why _wouldn't_ you risk everything for that?"

"You're not IPSA." Hrequor looked back at her. "Are you?"

"Nope."

"So why do you want to help us?"

The woman thought a moment, her dark eyes fixed straight ahead. The wavy mahogany hair blown back with every her every step forwards, sunglasses perched on top of her head, the distinct click of her black heels echoing off the bunker floor. "I'm looking for information," she confessed, at last.

"On what?"

"A project I'm working on." The woman smiled at him. "Turns out, right now, the Dalek databases have the most comprehensive source of information on my subject. But come back at a later point in time, and…" She brushed aside her hand. "Gone. All records wiped out."

Hrequor didn't understand. Just nodded.

"Don't worry," the woman assured him. "I'm sure the IPSA contacts you're secretly communicating with will be able to explain it better."

Hrequor blinked. "IPSA isn't here."

"Now I know you're lying." The woman pushed past him, the moment she saw the command terminal. A large grin spreading across her face, as she raced forwards and began to reassemble machinery.

The others, around the command center, quickly stepped in to impede her. "Ma'am, you can't—"

"It's okay," Hrequor announced. "She's with me. Let her do what she likes."

The woman flashed him a smile, then got back to work.

A twig-like scientist shuffled, awkwardly, nearby. "Sir, who… is she? What's she doing? Why…?"

"I'm the person who'll get the Daleks off this planet," said the woman, still busy at work. "That's all you need to know."

Everyone in the room exchanged looks.

"There aren't any Daleks on this—" the scientist began.

"No, of course not," the woman agreed, standing up and dusting off her clothes. She readjusted the sunglasses perched on her head, so they held back her hair like a headband. "Your politicians have _always_ had dangerous alien machinery implanted in their brains. Nothing to do with Daleks."

Everyone turned, sharply, to Hrequor.

"She's right," Hrequor admitted. "All governments on Jarodin have been under Dalek control for some time, now. We have proof."

"She's… IPSA, then?" asked one of the soldiers. "Intelligence division?"

"Why else would I be down here?" the woman replied. She accessed a computer terminal, began to manipulate the data projections with her hands. Then her eyes lit up, as a data profile popped up on the screen. "Perfect. Dates, locations, aliases. Everything laid out in black and white."

She swept the sunglasses off her head, began fiddling with them.

Hrequor paced towards her, squinting at the screen. Just had time to catch the words "Doctor" and "Time Lord" before the sunglasses gave a sharp whirring sound, and the woman waved the data off the display.

"Who… is this 'Doctor'?" asked Hrequor. "What do you want with him?"

"Alien superhero," said the woman, eyes lingering on her sunglasses, watching something play across the lenses. "Universe-saver. I'm starting a collection of them. Thought I'd include him, too." She grinned down at the lenses. Tapped their surface, as the data stopped playing across its surface. "And… download complete." Put the glasses back on her head. Extended a hand to shake. "Thank you, Hrequor. Much appreciated."

"So what now?" Hrequor asked. "Now… you rescue our planet from the Daleks?"

"Now that I've got what I wanted?" said the woman. She shrugged. "Nope. Now, I leave."

Then, before anyone could register what was happening, the woman threw Hrequor out of her way and darted for the stairs out of the bunker.

"Stop her!" shouted Hrequor.

The soldiers scattered around immediately broke into action, racing after the woman at full speed. Hrequor stayed behind. Stepped to the corner, opened up a channel on his wrist-comm.

"You got all of that?" Hrequor asked.

A short pause.

Then, a voice from the other end: "Think your men can catch her?"

"Easy."

"Have them bring her to my ship. I need to know what data she accessed."

The air shimmered, and another woman appeared before him. This one attired in the IPSA uniform, her shoulder-length hair tied back, combat gear in place and a determination shining through her green eyes.

The scientist jumped. "But you're…"

"Special Agent Deborah Raykins, IPSA Intelligence," Raykins replied, strolling over to the data point. She attached a special IPSA gizmo to the side, and watched as a stream of data flowed before her eyes. "And, before you ask — yes. There are Daleks on your planet. We've been aware of them for some time, now. We're trying to work out their plan, so we can thwart it and stop them _without_ turning your planet into a gigantic battleground." Raykins stopped the scrolling data, staring at the information the mystery woman had called up onto their data point. She frowned.

"Do you know who this 'Doctor' is?" said Hrequor.

Raykins disengaged the IPSA gear from the terminal, and the data disappeared once more. "Sorry, Hrequor," said Raykins. "Classified information. Couldn't tell you even if I knew."

She touched the gadget to a datapoint in her belt, then stored the item away in a pocket for later use.

"One thing's for sure," said Raykins. "If all that information is true, and the woman we've been following — whoever she is — wants this 'Doctor' dead… she's not to be trusted. Not for a single second."

The stomp of footsteps, as Hrequor's troops rushed back into the command center.

"Sorry, sir," said one of the soldiers. "The woman. She's gone."


	2. Chapter 2

As Seo stepped out onto the surface of the planet, she looked around herself. Furrowed her brow.

"Wow," said Dawn, emerging behind her. "Really cheerful place you found, here, Seo."

It was dusk. The blue pinprick sun setting below the horizon, but shedding enough light on the landscape around them to see that it was filled with scorched and burned trees, the ransacked remains of houses, and a dense layer of ash beneath their feet.

"Seems familiar," Seo muttered.

Dawn glanced at her. Okay. Was this one of those flashbacks-to-a-year-that-never-happened moments? Or was Seo picking up on something Dawn had missed?

"Well… I'm pretty sure _I've_ never been here," Dawn tried. Holding her breath for what Seo would say next.

Seo shot her aunt a grin, over her shoulder. "Yes, but you sleep a whole eight hours a night. There's a lot someone can do in eight hours."

Then she skipped away, tossing her hair over her shoulders.

Dawn blinked.

Then shut the door and raced after Seo. "You've been sneaking out of Oliver in the middle of the night so you could explore and get yourself into trouble?" she cried. "You…! You…!" Bit her lower lip, as Seo skipped around a corner. "God, you really _are_ me, huh?"

Then rushed to keep up.

* * *

Raykins took a reading with her wrist computer, then analyzed the results. Shook her head. "Well, if Sunglasses _was_ here, she isn't anymore. Not a trace." Turned back to the other soldiers. "How, exactly, did you manage to lose her?"

The soldiers all looked at one another, awkwardly.

"We don't know, ma'am," one of them admitted.

"We'd caught up with her," said another. "Taken her into custody. And next thing we knew… she was gone. Can't remember how it happened."

Raykins shot them all a hard, stern look. "Can't remember," she repeated. Marched over to them. "Can't remember?! What the hell do you think you're playing at?!"

"Sorry, ma'am," the soldiers told her.

One in the back hesitated. "With permission, ma'am, who is she? Why's she so important?"

"That's classified," said Raykins.

"We think she's a Dalek spy," said Hrequor.

"We _thought_ she was a Dalek spy," Raykins corrected. "But a Dalek spy wouldn't be using us to steal information from the Daleks' own databases, would they?"

Hrequor looked away, a little shamefaced. He clearly hadn't thought of that.

Raykins checked her wrist computer, again. "Hrequor, they're your men, you figure out how to discipline them. I have to find her." She headed off. "I'll be able to get a better reading in my ship. If she left this world, there'll be a distinct trace from her engines. Pick that up, and I can work out…"

Raykins stopped. Froze.

"Agent Raykins, Ma'am?" said Hrequor.

Raykins held up her hand, demanding quiet. "Daleks," she breathed. Grabbed up one of the Dalek-Be-Gone guns from her holster, and sprinted forwards. "Looks like they've finally come out into the open. Time to find out the real reason they're here."

* * *

"Wonder what happened to this place," Dawn muttered, as they poked around for signs of life. "It's like a disaster area, here."

Seo stopped, just a short ways away. Then her eyes lit up, and she spun around to Dawn. "Oh, Aunt Dawn! Guess what? I've just worked out what happened to make this place look burnt like this!"

Dawn spun around, to find Seo pointing.

"They came!" Seo explained.

And looming just behind Seo was a sight that made Dawn's heart stop dead in her chest. A group of five Daleks advancing forwards, their eyestalks fixed on the two of them, their gun barrels twitching. Dawn sucked in a sharp breath as she watched them surround herself and Seo.

"DO NOT MOVE!" shouted the Daleks. "DO NOT MOVE! YOU ARE PRISONERS OF THE DALEKS!"

"They're multi-color this time!" Seo cried. "And still very cute-looking." She leaned down to get a better look. "Aw, look at you! You're like… Dalek skittles!"

"SILENCE!" shouted the Daleks. "SILENCE!"

"I know that everyone's afraid of you," Seo continued, "but you don't even have hands, so why—?"

Dawn lunged forwards, grabbing Seo up and shoving a hand over her mouth. "Okay, seriously," Dawn whispered, "this time, _do not antagonize_."

Seo tried to speak, but Dawn squeezed her arm tight as she could, to make her shut up.

"We're complying," Dawn told the Daleks. "We'll do what you want."

"YOU WILL COME WITH US," shouted the Daleks. "MOVE! MOVE!"

But the moment the first Dalek swiveled around, it was struck — point blank, through the eyestalk — by a dazzling beam of light. It exploded in a burst of green goop and machine parts.

"ALERT!" shouted another, spinning around and firing. "ALERT! UNDER ATTACK!"

"EXTERMINATE!" shouted the remaining three.

Dawn saw her advantage.

And took it.

Grabbed Seo by the hand, and began to race in the opposite direction. Feet pounding against the ashy ground fast as she could go, her heart thudding in her chest.

Just get out, get out, get…!

"PRISONERS ESCAPING!"

A Dalek beam seared right in between Dawn and Seo, throwing them apart from one another, splattering mud and ash up in between them. Dawn rolled back to her feet, forcing herself to remain steady, then tried to run…

But someone caught her hand.

"With me," said a woman's voice.

"But—"

There was no chance for argument, though, as the Daleks resumed their fire, and the woman beside Dawn managed to shove Dawn out of the trajectory whilst flipping and dodging her way through the battlefield. Her firearm hitting another Dalek, before she and Dawn made it to safety.

"We have to go back," Dawn whispered. "I was with someone. She's—"

"Still alive," said the soldier-looking woman. "Or the Daleks would have killed you two on the spot the moment they set eyes on you." She wore a uniform emblazoned with a military logo, and her eyes looked furious. "So who are you? And what the hell do the Daleks want with you?"

* * *

Seo felt herself dragged away by another pair of hands. Dragged off, away from Dawn, by someone who looked like a soldier.

"My aunt—" Seo began.

"Will be fine," the soldier cut in. "Regroup later. Now move!"

He tried to secure his hold on her more tightly, but Seo wasn't having it. She wouldn't leave her Aunt behind to get killed on a world not her own. She just… couldn't!

Seo twisted out of his grip, and then surged forwards, in the direction she'd last seen Dawn. The soldier followed after her, gun in hand.

She could hear the sound of Daleks in pursuit of someone else — Dawn, she assumed — and followed the noise. Could hear the sounds of shots and screams, but the dust was still thick and ashy around them, and Seo could see nothing.

Then Seo collided with something metal. Was thrown back, caught by the soldier, as the dust settled. And they found three Daleks surrounding them.

"DROP THE WEAPON," one of the Daleks commanded. "YOU WILL SURRENDER."

The soldier lay down his gun on the ground, stepped away from it, hands raised. He nudged Seo, who did the same.

"We surrender," he said. "We'll come quietly."

For a few moment, silence.

Then, in unison, "EXTERMINATE!"

A blaze of light filled Seo's vision, searing across her corneas, and she could just hear the anguished screams of the man beside her, his skeleton illuminating inside his body as he was struck…

And then he fell, dead, to the ground.

Seo stared between the Daleks and the soldier. Her breath coming a little too fast.

"But… he'd surrendered," Seo said. She turned on them, rage flowing through her. "Do you need a dictionary? White flag! Surrender! You can't shoot someone if they've—"

"SILENCE!" shouted the Daleks. "OR YOU WILL BE EXTERMINATED!"

Seo shut up.

"YOU WILL COME WITH US," the Daleks commanded.

"Where?" Seo asked, trying to force the tremor out of her voice. "What are you going to do to—"

"MOVE!" shouted the Daleks, their gun-stalks twitching. "OR YOU WILL BE EXTERMINATED!"

Seo did as she was told.

But before they'd gotten very far, a sound of engines revving drowned out all other noise around them, and the dust began to blow thicker than it had, before. The Daleks' eye-stalks all raised to regard the air ship flying lower and lower towards the ground, kicking up the dust…

And Seo took advantage of the distraction.

And ran.

Ran fast as she could, away from the Daleks. Ran blindly but determinedly, ran even as dust filled her lungs and she struggled to suppress the urge to cough and give away her position.

She didn't know what had happened to Dawn.

But had to hope that Dawn had gotten away. Maybe Dawn had been the one to organize the distraction in the first place. Maybe it was a sign that Dawn was still okay!

Hope was all Seo had left.

So she clung to it.

Until the dust settled. And Seo finally realized… she knew exactly what this planet was. And why it had looked so familiar.


	3. Chapter 3

"I keep telling you," Dawn insisted. "Neither Seo nor me have anything to do with any Daleks. In fact, we pretty much hate the Daleks. This is totally un— Ow!"

She winced, as she was once again jabbed with a syringe, and injected with something. The woman who'd rescued her — Raykins, the others had called her — flashed another scanner-looking thing over Dawn, and analyzed the readings.

"What is that stuff?" said Dawn. "Sodium pentothal? Because I'm telling you the truth, here!"

"And you'd believe that even if you _were_ a Dalek agent," said Raykins, still scrutinizing her scanner. "IPSA's perfectly aware of Dalek conditioning tactics. Rest assured, this isn't sodium pentothal." She waved the scanner around, again. "Just a DNA sequencing enhancer." Waved the scanner around another time. Then sighed, and put it down on a nearby table.

For a few seconds, she just stared at Dawn — a hard, inscrutable stare.

"Tell me about yourself," she said, at long last.

"Again?!" Dawn cried.

"Again."

Dawn gritted her teeth in frustration. Seo was out there, somewhere, probably in trouble, while Dawn was stuck here getting interrogated by someone who sounded like a broken record — and to make life even suckier, these bonds that were restraining Dawn, at the moment, were really starting to itch.

"My name's Dawn," said Dawn. Again. "I'm here with my niece, Seo. We were just traveling around, when—"

"Not that part," said Raykins. "Your personal life."

Dawn frantically tried to remember the story she'd woven for them. "I'm from Earth. New York." She'd figured she was safe with that, because she couldn't imagine New York ever not being around. "I work in data entry. Except my sister was feeling a little under the weather, so I decided to take Seo out for—"

"Okay, that's a lie," Raykins said. Folded her arms. "Now. Truth."

Dawn blinked. "How do you know it's…?!"

"Truth," Raykins demanded.

Dawn hesitated. "You're never going to believe the truth."

"Try me."

Dawn took a long, deep breath. Then began, "I'm a time traveler. From the 21st century. Seo built this space ship that's also a time machine, because she secretly wants to be like her father — who's this very cool time traveling alien — even though she claims to be totally embarrassed by him. I'm looking after her, because she needs parental supervision and doesn't want to travel across the universe with her parents. Neither of us selected this planet. Seo doesn't actually know where or when anything is, so we travel at random. Which is who I am, who she is, and why we're here — in a nutshell."

For a few moments, there was silence in the room.

Then Raykins dropped her head, and burst out laughing.

"Yeah, I figured you wouldn't believe the truth," Dawn muttered. "Look, can you let me go, now?"

Raykins managed to compose herself. Checked the scanner, one last time. Then gave an amused sigh, and sat down at the table, opposite Dawn.

"I should be disintegrating you, right now, you know," Raykins confessed. "After your scans kept testing positive for replication errors. But no Dalek Replicant would ever give such a cock and bull back story."

Dawn blinked. "Wait, a Dalek what-licant?"

Raykins showed her the scanner. "These readings," she explained. "You have replication errors. Minor little disconnected pieces of your bio-composition — so slight that most scanners wouldn't pick it up. But it's the signature of a person who's been created in the image of another."

In the image of…?

Oh, God!

Buffy!

"I can explain that," Dawn offered. Then hesitated. "Although… on second thought… if you didn't like the time travel explanation, you're _really_ not going to like this next one."

Raykins sighed. "Don't tell me. You're a Dalek Replicant — _with a soul_."

"Uh… actually," said Dawn, wincing, "I'm a mystical Key who used to be green glowing energy, but was shaped into a person based on my sister's DNA by a bunch of magic monks who were trying to hide me from an evil hell goddess — the same evil hell goddess my niece was created to destroy."

Raykins stared at Dawn.

Then looked down, trying to suppress another laugh.

"What?" said Dawn. "It's true!"

"Yeah, and I'm Bunfy Sompters, slaying monsters in a graveyard in Somleydaya," said Raykins. She looked up, analyzing Dawn a minute longer. Then shook her head. "Well, if you were a Dalek Replicant, I'd be long dead by now. I guess that's something."

Dawn felt this was a good sign. "So… I can go rescue my niece?"

"No," said Raykins. Looked right into Dawn's eyes, a new intensity on her face. "No, you might not be a Dalek Replicant, but… there's something about you I'm missing. Something important. There was a lot of nonsense in that back story of yours, but… you put in just enough to convince me that you know more than you're telling." She leaned over. "So. What's really going on, on Jarodin?"

So much for good sign.

"Seriously, I'm a total idiot," Dawn insisted. "And a lunatic. I mean" — scoffing — "time travel, right? That's nuts."

"You knew exactly what I'd need to hear to believe you weren't a Dalek Replicant," said Raykins. "Dropped in just enough details to imply that you knew who Sunglasses was looking for. Managed to reference enough Slayer legends to convince me you've done your research about us. And then, of course, there's your so-called 'niece', whom we know for a fact has a connection with Sunglasses."

Dawn felt totally lost. "Wait, huh?"

"Either you're the greatest genius this side of the Milky Way," said Raykins, "or you've been very well briefed. So. Whatever your mission is, whatever connection you have to Sunglasses, whatever it is that the three of you actually arrived on Jarodin to find — you'd better tell me right now." Her voice lowered. "Because whatever you want, here — the Daleks are looking for it, too. And you really, really don't want them to get their hands on it, first."

Dawn felt her heart skip a beat. "The Daleks came here… looking for something?"

Raykins didn't answer. Just fixed Dawn with that same intense stare.

"Look, you gotta let me go out there and find Seo," Dawn pleaded. "It's really important. You've got no idea—!"

"She's dead," said Raykins. "I sent out a soldier to rescue her. He hasn't come back. Trust me. By now, they're both dead."

"She's not, and you have to help me get her back!" Dawn insisted. She tried, frantically, to think of how to express this in a way that made sense. "We… _didn't_ just arrive here for the hell of it. I mean, we still have no idea where or what this place is, but… we passed something weird in the vortex, and traced it to here. Seo thought it was going to be a mystery or mega-trouble or something she could fix, but… I mean, what if the Daleks _wanted_ her here? What if it was all a trap?"

Some of the hardness fell away from Raykins' face. "They want your niece? Why?"

"Because I wasn't lying!" Dawn shouted. "Seo was created as this super biological mega-weapon. I mean, don't get me wrong — she's a sweet kid, and wouldn't harm a fly! But she's also powerful. She's dangerous. She was created as a weapon that could crush anyone or anything out there, and if the Daleks figure out how to use that, then it's goodbye universe."

Raykins opened her mouth to speak again, but the door to the interrogation room crashed open, and a very frantic Hrequor burst in.

He saluted Raykins, hastily.

"Just got word," he reported. "Councilor Klothor has arrived by air for an unscheduled trip to the wastelands. In the confusion caused by his arrival, the second Dalek prisoner managed to escape."

Dawn broke into a large smile.

Managed to escape! Oh, go Seo! Way to pull it out when it counted!

Raykins leapt to her feet. Suddenly alarmed. "Klothor?" she said. "You're sure it was Klothor?"

"Yes, Ma'am."

Raykins swore beneath her breath. Then pressed a little button on the tabletop beside her, and the restraints holding Dawn in place immediately dispersed into thin air, as if they'd never existed in the first place.

Before Dawn had time to react, Raykins had grabbed her up and dragged her to her feet.

"Your niece," said Raykins. "Where would she have gone?"

Dawn cringed. "I… don't know," she admitted. "Probably somewhere not even remotely safe. Why? Do you think she's in trouble? Do you think the Daleks will—"

"Councilor Klothor," Raykins interrupted, "is a Dalek Replicant."

Dawn froze. Eyes wide.

"But… but if they're the ones that called him here… if the Daleks caused the distraction that let Seo escape…" Dawn bit her lower lip. "They _wanted_ her to escape."

"Yes."

"But… but… why?" Dawn protested.

Raykins turned, and pulled Dawn along behind her. "That's what I intend to find out."

* * *

Beside a burned out patch of trees, in the midst of a wasteland that had been ravaged and destroyed, Seo could see a rock formation that, despite being burned and charred and scorched, Seo would still recognize anywhere.

Because she, herself, had put it there.

"Jarodin," Seo confirmed. "This planet… is Jarodin."

She felt a horrible sinking feeling, deep down inside, as she raced towards the rock formation. What if the Daleks had already opened it? What if they'd already…?

Seo could feel the dimensional-lock mechanism disengaging beneath her hand, as her brain almost subconsciously managed to unravel the dimensional components that kept people out, and allowed her to open the door.

Surely the Daleks wouldn't be able to force their way through a lock like this, right?

After all. Only Seo, as a dimensional Key, would know instinctively how to manipulate and alter the dimensional aspects to allow her access to the hidden chamber inside. A chamber hidden in a side-dimension, adjacent to this one but inaccessible except by the most innovative of means. Only a handful of people knew how to gain access. People that Seo knew wouldn't betray her secret.

The Daleks wouldn't be able to figure it out.

Right?

Seo hurried within the door, and let it seal shut and locked behind her. Then raced down the secret passageway, fast as she could.

Please don't let them have found this place…

Please don't let them have found this place…


	4. Chapter 4

"DIMENSIONALLY SEALED DOOR HAS BEEN OPENED!" one of the Daleks shouted.

Another drifted over to the machinery onboard their ship, and stuck out its plunger to touch a sensor pad. The machine whirred into life, numbers and letters and alien language surging out across its displays.

"ANALYSIS OF UNLOCKING PROCEDURE RECEIVED," the second Dalek reported.

"EXTRAPOLATE METHOD OF ENTRY FROM GATHERED DATA!" commanded the Dalek in charge. "WE MUST GAIN ACCESS TO WHAT LIES BEYOND THE DIMENSIONAL DOOR!"

The other Daleks all twitched their eyestalks, as they chorused, "WE OBEY!"

Thirty seconds passed, before the second Dalek pulled away. "UNLOCKING SEQUENCE DETECTED."

"THEN BREACH THE DIMENSIONAL DOOR!" commanded the Dalek in charge.

The other Daleks all spun around, advancing towards the exit hatch of the ship. "WE OBEY!"

* * *

Seo almost broke down in grateful relief, when she saw everything was still intact. Nothing had been disturbed, and there were no signs that the Daleks had ever been down here.

"You're safe," Seo said. "I… was so scared."

The figure behind the force-wall just sat on her bed, cradling a ragged-looking doll. She didn't look up at Seo. Instead, leant down towards the doll.

"Look who's come to visit, Miss Edith," she whispered to her doll. "Our murderer."

It still stung, hearing her say it. Even after all the times she'd said it in the past.

"But I didn't let you die twice," Seo insisted. "I came back, remember? In 2004. I saved you, Drusilla."

"The world burst with golden light," Drusilla remembered. She lifted up her face, a little, musing over it. "Everyone screaming and dying as the light encompassed them. And then my little glowing savior came back. Swept Drusilla out of sight and threw away the key."

"I can't let anyone find out you're alive," Seo argued. She shuffled, awkwardly. "If I do it this way, you fall through the cracks in history. Everyone assumes you've died, and you can continue living. I can make sure you're all right."

Drusilla turned around.

It was a sight that always made Seo remember just how much she'd failed Drusilla. Despite everything she'd tried to do, Drusilla remained a vampire. With no soul. A vampire who was completely and utterly insane.

Seo had spoken to Spike, right around 3012, about it. Said she couldn't stand having Drusilla be caged like this, and had been doing research into restoring Drusilla's soul back to her.

At which point Spike had just scoffed and said — _Think all that guilt's gonna make her any_ less _insane?_

There had been nutritional supplements and iron tablets invented that could keep vampires looking vaguely human. But Drusilla had refused it all. And so she'd turned out like this. Caged. Her face looking more monster than it was human. Her fangs protruded, her mouth twisted into a vampiric snarl — and unable to change back.

It hurt to see her like that.

"Pretty little Seo," said Drusilla, getting up off the bed. Advancing forwards. "Pretty, shiny little thing. Been so lonely, here, all on my own." She stopped, just beside the force wall, reaching out but not enough to harm herself. "You're the only one who comes to play."

"What about Spike and Angel?"

Drusilla pouted. "Gone," she complained. "No more time for Drusilla. Not anymore."

Of course. They must have made themselves scarce, once the Daleks showed up on this planet.

"Don't like the wall," Drusilla said. Touched her hand against it, then hissed and shook it out, as the electricity stung her fingers. "Want you to come in here. Want my pretty little one."

Seo gave a small smile. Stepped back. "I'm sure you would. But I'd like to keep my blood inside my body, if it's all the same to you."

Drusilla whined, impatiently. Stomped her foot against the ground. "Not fair!" she said. "Not fair. Want to make you dark, like me. Want to feel alive, again."

Seo went over, checked the blood levels. "You'd feel more alive if you actually ate something," she pointed out. "What is this, a hunger strike?"

"It's not _human_ blood," Drusilla complained. Slumped, sulking. "I want human blood. Or yours. So lonely."

Seo closed the gage. Turned around, a little irritated.

"Look, I can sympathize with being bored because you're locked away in hiding," Seo said. "It's why I keep coming back, much as I can, to keep you company. Why I let Angel and Spike have access. Why I… indulge you, sometimes, and take down the force wall."

Drusilla gave a large grin.

"Admittedly," Seo muttered, "the first time I did, I wasn't exactly expecting a snog, but… all things considered, I think I dealt with that… pretty well."

"Mummy said it would be wicked," said Drusilla. "But we won't tell. Will we, my little pretty one?"

"And the snogging is… tolerable," said Seo. "Not pleasant, but… well... you're lonely. I'll give you that." She shook her head, and put her hands on her hips. "But I draw the line at your attempts to torture, blood-suck, and molest me! You have to treat me with respect, or you get no Seo-time at all."

"Because mummy's about to go away," Drusilla mused. "When they come. And they are coming, Seo. They're coming back. They are returning, because it is returning — returning, always returning, returning through the darkness and the void. And when they come back, Seo, you will kill her."

Seo paused. Froze. "What is… I mean who is…?"

"An enemy will rise," Drusilla told her. "One who pushes you to your limits. I can see… you." She frowned, in thought. "Your life so intricate. Family gained… and family lost."

"Mom…?!" Seo started.

"You will be many and one, Seo — reflections through shards of broken glass," Drusilla interrupted. "Every reflection different. Every face unique. All gathered together to fight a great evil. To rise to your biggest challenge."

Seo's eyes widened.

"But… no, wait!" Seo said. "Mom. You told me Mom was going to…! That I was going to kill…!"

It didn't make sense! She couldn't believe it! Didn't want to.

But it didn't have to happen. Drusilla's visions didn't always have to happen — Seo knew that! She'd already stopped one of Drusilla's vision, by saving her from the end of the vampires.

"I'll stop it," Seo said.

Drusilla leaned in. A twinkle in her eyes. "Yes," she whispered. "That's why it will happen."

Seo swallowed, hard.

"Beware, little Seo," said Drusilla. "Beware the Sunglasses."

Seo opened her mouth to ask more…

And that was when the sound of the door unlocking echoed through the chamber. Followed by the thud of its opening, and a metallic, grating voice, shouting, "ENTRY GAINED."

Seo's eyes went even wider.

As she realized… there was nowhere left to run. Not anymore.

"PRISONERS LOCATED!" came a cry, as one of the Daleks hovered into sight. Its gun barrel twitching, as it advanced towards Seo. "DO NOT MOVE! DO NOT MOVE! YOU ARE PRISONERS OF THE DALEKS!"

Four other Daleks swooped in, behind the first. All aiming their gun stalks directly at Seo.

Seo didn't move a single muscle.

"BIO-SCAN DETECTS PHYSIOLOGY CONTAINING DIMENSIONAL ANOMILIES," said one of the Daleks, plunger extending. It then switched towards Drusilla. "PHYSIOLOGY MATCHES THE BEINGS KNOWN AS VAMPIRES." It retracted, with a whir. "IDENTITY CONFIRMED. THESE ARE THE HUMANOIDS WE SEEK."

"You… can scan me?" Seo squeaked.

"SILENCE!" shouted the Daleks. "SILENCE!"

Seo shut up.

"YOU WILL OPEN THE FORCE SHIELD AND RELEASE THE VAMPIRE," said the nearest Dalek, flying closer. "OR YOU WILL BE EXTERMINATED."

Seo sucked in a sharp breath.

"OBEY!" shouted the other Daleks. "OBEY!"

Seo looked over at Drusilla. Dare she? But she'd brought Drusilla here to protect her. Make sure she was safe! If the Daleks couldn't get her in there…

"No," Seo decided. Balling her hands into fists. "I won't do it! If you can't get her in there, then you can't get her at all!" She stepped forwards. "And you won't kill me. Because you want me alive."

The Daleks were silent for a few long seconds.

Then, "INCORRECT."

Seo felt her hearts sink. "What?"

"RELEASE THE VAMPIRE," shouted the Dalek. "OR YOU WILL BE USELESS. YOU WILL BE EXTERMINATED!"

"EXTERMINATE!" shouted the other Daleks. "EXTERMINATE!"

One of them fired, and Seo just barely managed to dodge the shot in time. It struck the ground by her feet.

And she realized… they weren't bluffing.

They would really kill her.

And… the thing was… Seo didn't want to die.

"EXTERMIN—!" one of the others shouted, getting ready to fire.

"Wait!" Seo cried. She turned to the controls, and began to fiddle with them. "I'll do it."

She could hear the force wall coming down. Looked up to meet Drusilla's eyes, as the vampire tread towards her. Half-expected Drusilla to just plunge teeth into neck the moment she got close enough — and maybe that was what the Daleks had wanted all along. Who knew?

But Drusilla instead took Seo's hand.

"Pretty shiny thing," she said. "Don't die." In a whisper, "Miss Edith will be very cross."

Seo looked up into Drusilla's eyes. They were yellow, now, yes, but… inside of them… Seo could see something else.

A spark of something Seo couldn't quite work out.

"THE PRISONERS WILL MOVE!" shouted the Daleks. "MOVE! MOVE!"

And as they were ushered out of hiding and into the open, Seo squeezed Drusilla's hand.

"I'll get you out of this," Seo said. "Promise."


	5. Chapter 5

Dawn's eyes went wide, and she had to do her best not to cry out when she next saw Seo. She was being led out of a secret opening in the ground, at Dalek gunpoint. Led, Dawn guessed, towards some concealed space ship.

Scary as that was, though, it wasn't what made her want to cry out.

"What… is that thing?" Raykins asked. She kept poking buttons on her wrist gizmo, and frowning at the readouts. "It registers as alive, but gives off no body heat. No heartbeat." With a small glance up at Dawn, added, "As opposed to your friend Seo, who registers as _nothing_."

"That's Drusilla!" Dawn gasped. "But she's dead! I mean, all the vampires went boom! She has to be…!"

Then Dawn realized what must have happened. Why Seo had been sneaking out while Dawn was asleep. And what Seo's guilt-ridden conscience must have led her to do.

"Oh, God, Seo saved her," Dawn muttered, hitting her head against her hand. "You idiot, Seo! Why couldn't you have been like Angel, fueling that guilt into fighting unrelated monsters?! Why'd you have to save someone who wants your head on a platter?!"

Then Dawn realized Raykins was staring at her, expectantly.

Dawn cringed.

"Oh, right," said Dawn. "You've never seen a vampire, before, huh?"

Raykins turned back to the scene in front of her. "Is _that_ what they looked like?" Her face creased, as a thoughtful look of intense concentration came over her. "The vampire. Saved by the super-weapon. Which one was the bait and which one was the prize?"

"What?" said Dawn.

Raykins pulled Dawn out of the way, shushed her, then raced along some back allies. Trying to keep a lookout on the Daleks, but not draw attention to herself.

"You're right," Raykins decided, pulling a gun out of her holster. "No way we can let either of those two fall in Dalek hands."

Dawn felt a shudder overtake her.

The way Raykins had said it, the way she was now pointing her gun right at the procession… made Dawn think that Raykins' number one priority wasn't rescue at all. Was just…

Raykins began to squeeze the trigger.

Dawn leapt at her, knocking her to the ground, but too late! The shot had already fired, Raykins' aim not altering in the slightest, and Dawn watched, in horror, while falling, as the shot raced right towards Seo…

"You idiot!" Raykins hissed. "I could have missed!"

But the beam _did_ miss.

Instead of hitting Seo, it skimmed centimeters away from her back, hitting a curved mirror just behind her, and ricocheting off it, banging smack into the Dalek leading the two away.

"ALERT!" shouted the other Daleks, firing wildly. "ALERT! UNDER ATTACK!"

"SCANNING FOR HOSTILE LIFE FORMS," shouted one of the Daleks.

Raykins grabbed Dawn by the wrist, and dragged her into a run. "One centimeter further left, and your friend would be dead!" she whispered, harshly. "You better thank your lucky stars I'm a good enough shot to compensate."

Dawn's head spun. "But why…? I mean, I thought…!"

"The ricochets mean the Daleks have to scan for us!" said Raykins. "And that gives your friend the perfect distraction." She grinned, as she glanced back. "And it looks like she's taking it."

"IPSA LOCATED!" shouted one of the Daleks.

"PRISONERS ESCAPING!" shouted another.

The Daleks looked like they didn't know where to shoot. Kept attempting to fire in both directions at once — where Seo and Drusilla were escaping, and a hundred eighty degrees away, where Dawn and Raykins were running. Raykins thrust Dawn into nearby cover, then proceeded to flip and twist in elaborate acrobatics, avoiding the Dalek beams, as she edged closer and closer to Seo and Drusilla.

"EXTERMINATE IPSA!" shouted one of the Daleks. "EXTERMINATE! EXTERMINATE!"

"HALT!" shouted another, flying towards Seo. "HALT! OR YOU WILL BE EXTERMINATED!"

Raykins, in a move that looked like it had been pulled out of a ninja movie itself, managed to run half-way up a wall and then kick off, twisting herself upside down directly over the Dalek and out of its gun range, taking her shot. The shot blasted the Dalek right through its domed head, and it exploded.

Then she spun on her heel, moment she landed. Ducked another extermination beam. And took out the second.

Turned to Seo and Drusilla.

"We've got to go," Raykins said, grabbing Seo by the hand, and yanking her along. "Now!"

They'd only just begun running when the sound of a hatch opening rang through the air, and — from nowhere — a swarm of Daleks emerged. Too many for Raykins to take out. Too many to avoid getting shot.

Raykins swore.

Tapped at some things on her wrist, then hissed. "They've taken down teleportation functions."

Seo's eyes scanned the ground. Then she surged forwards, grabbing the gun from Raykins, and firing at the ground just in front of her.

A latch opened.

Seo, with a jump, hurtled herself inside, Raykins following soon after. Drusilla came up behind, but before she could jump down, she was struck by one of the beams. Her skeleton illuminating, as she cried out.

And toppled to the ground, still overhead.

"Drusilla!" Seo cried.

But Deborah Raykins had already begun poking at a series of control panels, and the hatch slammed shut. Reinforced by as much shielding as Raykins could manage to scrap together.

Seo jerked her around by the arm. Meeting her eyes. "Open it. She's still out there!"

"She's dead."

"She's a vampire! She isn't dead!" Seo shouted. "She's up there! The Daleks have her! Let me out!"

"No."

Seo grabbed Raykins by both arms, shaking her. "I said—!"

"And now it's time for _me_ to demand something from _you_ ," Raykins interrupted. Expertly twisted around Seo's grip, so that _she_ was the one with the upper-hand, and Seo was in an indefensible position — no matter how much strength the girl had in her. "How did you know about this place? And how did you know how to open the hatch?"

Seo blinked. Clearly confused as to how Raykins had managed to get the upper hand so quickly. "There… there was something funny about the ground, here. I could see the outline of the hatch through the ash. I figured a gun designed to destroy metal casing would open it."

Raykins met Seo's eyes with her own. "Really? So nothing to do with Ms. Sunglasses?"

Seo's breath caught in her throat. As she remembered Drusilla's warning…

_Beware Sunglasses._

"Sunglasses?" Seo checked.

"Yes, the other person who mysteriously worked out where this place was and how to open it," said Raykins. "I know there's a connection between you two. You might as well spit it out."

Seo gritted her teeth. Thrust aside her fears and trepidations. "I just want to get out of here," she said. "Find Drusilla. And rescue her. That's all! Nothing to do with this… sunglasses person!"

A sound from their right, and Dawn entered. Looking a little confused as to how she'd wound up there. "I didn't know there were tunnels," she said, "until one opened up randomly right in front of me, and led…"

Then she spotted Seo.

And gave a sharp breath of relief, and ran over, throwing her arms around Seo in a desperate hug. "God, I thought I'd lost you forever!"

A flicker.

Then a holo-screen popped up in the center of the area. Featuring Drusilla and a swarm of Daleks, surrounding her.

"ATTENTION," the Daleks said. "YOU WILL SURRENDER, OR THE VAMPIRE WILL BE EXTERMINATED."

Seo's eyes were fixed on the image. Then she burst free from Dawn.

"I have to go out there," Seo decided.

"What?!" shouted Dawn. "Are you nuts?! They'll kill you."

"No; they want me for something," said Seo. Her eyes lingering upwards. "And I can't leave her alone with them. I have to protect her."

"Protect _Drusilla_?!" Dawn shouted. " _She_ wants to kill you, too!"

"Don't you think I know that?" Seo snapped, eyes back on Dawn. Her fists clenched by her sides. "But it's my fault she's like this. My fault she went insane. My fault she's here. My fault she's captured. I saved her, I hid her, I've been looking after her. I don't care what she'd actually do with me if she ever got her way. How much she wants to torture me, or sire me, or… whatever else her lust keeps driving her to do. Drusilla's _my_ responsibility." Her eyes narrowed. "I'm not letting her die again."

"Daleks wouldn't even know how to kill a vampire," Raykins pointed out.

Seo turned on Raykins. " _They're_ not the ones I think would kill her," she said, pointedly. "Miss Vampire Slayer."

Raykins didn't answer.

"What…?" said Dawn.

"Isn't it obvious?" said Seo. Pointing at Raykins. "I don't know why she's sparing _me_ , but apparently, vampires are still on the 'all right to kill' list at the Slayer Institute. Drusilla's expendable. This… Slayer-person… she's just waiting until the right moment, and then she'll take out both the Daleks and Drusilla all at once in a fiery explosion."

"I can't let the Daleks get their hands on a real vampire," said Raykins. Deadpan. "No matter what."

"It's murder," Seo spat.

"I've read the ancient annals," Raykins countered. "Vampires are like Daleks. They don't have souls. They don't care. They just kill. They're dead inside, already."

"They're killing machines?" said Seo.

"Yes."

Seo stepped forwards, trying to stand up straight and tall, so that she could look Raykins right in the eye. And missing by a half-foot. "So what," she said, through her teeth, "does that make me?"

Raykins met her gaze evenly. "What indeed?" she answered.

"SURRENDER!" shouted the Daleks, from the display. "SURRENDER!"

"You can't get out, anyways," said Raykins. Her voice emotionless. "This place is sealed."

A small smile twitched at the sides of Seo's mouth. "That a challenge?"

Then, faster than either of them had time to process, Seo had slipped out of Dawn's clutches, and darted through the far door that Dawn had entered, before. Raykins lunged out for her, but Seo did something to the control panel by her side of the door, and it slammed shut. Sealed.

"Seo!" shouted Dawn.

As Raykins threw herself at the controls on this side, frantically trying to undo what Seo had done. Or open up the overhead hatch. But no luck.

From the other side of the door, Seo's voice rang through. "Stay by Oliver," she urged Dawn. "There's a bit of him that's connected to me. He'll keep you… a little more stable. Until we meet up, again."

"If you get on that Dalek ship," Raykins warned Seo, "you'll be signing your own death warrant. If not from the Daleks, then from me."

Seo gave a soft laugh. "I don't think so."

"I can't let them get their hands on you or that vampire," said Raykins. "I'm prepared to make sacrifices."

"But you're clever," said Seo. "You've worked it out. You know I have a time machine."

Raykins went very still. Her eyes widening.

"Goodbye," Seo said.

And then headed off.

Raykins began attacking the controls with more ferocity. Trying to override what Seo had done. Frantic and desperate and trying every trick in the book.

But by the time she opened the doors, it was too late.

Seo had already run down the passage that Dawn had taken to get there. Had already emerged onto the surface and then given herself up to the Daleks. They could see her boarding the cloaked Dalek ship, helping Drusilla to move. She only looked back over her shoulder, briefly.

Then she was gone.

"Damn it!" Raykins shouted, as the ground shook with the rumble of the departing Dalek ship. Its cloaking falling away, now that it was no longer needed. "The smart-alecky good-for-nothing idiot!" Raykins began punching buttons on a mechanical device that unfolded from her shoulder-pad. "She has no idea what she's just done!"

"You're not going to shoot her down," said Dawn. "You can't!"

"I have to," Raykins said, through her teeth. "IPSA protocols demand it."

Dawn lunged at her, but Raykins easily managed to sidestep her, then grab her by the arm and twist her around so she was immobile — all without missing a beat in her priming of weapons systems.

"Please," Dawn begged. "She's my niece."

Raykins froze, her hand just above the data pad.

"Dawn's niece," Raykins said, very quietly. "Her sister's daughter."

It was a hesitation that cost her everything.

Overhead, the ship left the upper atmosphere. And headed into warp.

Raykins looked up into the sky.

"Too late, now, anyways," Raykins muttered. "She knew that would happen. Damn her."

Then turned. Gestured at Dawn.

"Come on," said Raykins. "To my ship. We don't have any time!"

"We're going after her?" Dawn asked. She could already feel something weird going on, somewhere inside herself. Like something was shifting that should never shift.

"Don't be stupid," said Raykins, as she pressed a button and uncloaked her own ship, in the distance. "Can't leave this planet. Not now. Daleks are gone, and that means these people need us more than ever."

"Huh?" said Dawn.

"You don't think the Daleks would just leave a planet behind and do nothing, do you?" Raykins said. Then began to speak again, but was interrupted by a screaming tremor, shaking through the earth beneath their feet.

The planet creaked and groaned, as Dawn lost her footing, and the ruins around her crashed to the ground.

"Earthquakes don't sound like this!" Dawn shouted.

Raykins poked at something on her belt. Her eyes fixed on the readout. "Oh, those smart bastards."

"What did they do?" said Dawn, managing to stumble her way to Raykins. "It's the apocalypse, huh?"

"All government officials are now out of action," said Raykins, reading off the screen. "They just keeled over and died." The tremors paused, briefly, but the ground kept making horrible groaning sounds. "Meanwhile, the Daleks altered the planet's Earthquake Tectonic Defense Systems to go into overload, thus destabilizing tectonic plate activity across the globe, destabilizing the molten core of the planet, and causing… well, eventually, causing the extinction of all life on its surface."

Dawn's eyes went wide.

No wonder there were all these earthquakes and things! The whole planet must be going into massive spasm mode right now!

"Then we have to get everyone off!" said Dawn. "This planet has space ships and stuff, right? We can use them!"

"It's complete anarchy out there," Raykins countered, turning back to her ship. "The Daleks shut down every single government official. I have to call for IPSA help! Make sure—!"

Which was when every single sign of electronic functionality on Raykins' gadgets or her ship suddenly went dead.

Turned to blackness.

As did everything else nearby. Every light. Every electronic gizmo. Even Dawn's wristwatch.

Raykins slowed. Then stopped.

For a few seconds, she just stood there. Taking in what this all meant.

"EM field," said Raykins. She slammed her hand against the hull of her ship. "Which means no working power sources. No IPSA help! No communications! And no way to get those tectonic defenses working again!" Kicked her ship, angrily. "Damn, damn, _damn_!"

Dawn was about to speak.

But suddenly doubled over. Feeling something terrible starting, deep down inside her. Something that swirled and pulled at her from the inside out, and she had this terrible panic like suddenly… she might fade out of existence completely.

She reached out to steady herself, clutching at Raykins' ship.

And the whole thing suddenly flared into life. Just for a second.

Raykins stared at the ship. Then at Dawn. Her jaw falling open.

"I… what's happening to me?" Dawn asked. Then seemed to recall… "Unstable. Seo said I'd be unstable without her around. I… I…"

"You're energy," Raykins breathed.

"No, I'm human, Ms. Big-Shot," Dawn snapped, automatically. The churning, unstableness inside of her was fading, now. As she felt something else take over. Something straining to stabilize her. "Seo said stay near Oliver. Our… our ship. Like that could…"

Raykins spun Dawn around, hands on her shoulders, looking into her eyes. "Listen, Dawn," she pleaded. "Everyone on this planet is going to die — unless I can get power to the Earthquake Tectonic Defense Systems and start the counter-sequence. Do you understand?"

Not really.

Especially not while Dawn still felt all weird and jittery from the unstable energy creeping around inside of her, and the universe around her kept feeling heavier and heavier, like a weight crushing her down.

"There's an EM field in effect!" Raykins shouted. Shaking Dawn's shoulders. "It's taken out everything else! If you don't help me, everyone's going to die!"

"But… but I don't know techy stuff!" Dawn said. "I mean, aside from whatever I've picked up with Seo. Which doesn't include stopping earthquakes! I can't… help…"

Which was right around the time that Dawn finally got it.

Realized what Raykins wanted her to do.

"I'm spewing out super-duper Key energy," Dawn said. "And I don't get affected by EM whatevers. You're going to use me as a power source!"

"Yes."

Dawn shoved Raykins away from her. "Are you nuts?!" Dawn shouted. "Without Seo around, the Key part of me is super unstable! This is energy that could tear apart universes."

Raykins' brow furrowed.

"You think a planet-wide apocalypse is bad?" said Dawn. "Or even a universe-wide apocalypse? Seo and I can cause multi-verse wide apocalypses! Literally kill everyone, everywhere, across every reality! Do you get how bad that is?"

"But you're stable enough if you're around this ship of yours?" Raykins checked.

Dawn fidgeted, uncomfortably. "I… guess?"

Raykins considered. Then, as the planet screamed again, and a volcano in the distance began billowing dense black smoke, Raykins grabbed Dawn by the hand, and turned back to the door of her ship.

"Then I'll take that chance," said Raykins, pulling Dawn outside. "Time to save the world."


	6. Chapter 6

"That's where the Tectonic Defense System is?" Dawn said, peering down through the bottom of the elevator, into the dark chasm that seemed to stretch on forever. "Geeze."

"It's some ways down in the mantle," said Hrequor, as he attached safety clamps to the elevator cables. Then looked back at Raykins. "The climate control systems will be offline, you know. Due to the EM field. It'll be hot as hell down there."

"Won't be a problem," said Raykins, raising up three heat-suits. "IPSA issue. Can withstand the Neutron 5 Heat Ray; should be able to keep us alive down there."

Raykins tossed one to Hrequor, one to Dawn. Then began to step into her own heat suit.

Dawn looked down at the heat suit in her hands. Gulped.

This was starting to sound like she was throwing herself into a furnace, and hoping the universe wouldn't explode when she did.

Still…

Dawn put it on.

"Dawn goes first," said Raykins, as she did up the zip. Then, securing the helmet, added, "I trust you've shimmied down a cable before?"

"Occasionally," Dawn admitted.

"Then you'll be fine," said Raykins, helping her finish suiting up, and then guiding her down. "Strap yourself in and wait for the high speed tension mechanism to kick in."

"High speed…?" Dawn started.

Then Raykins hit a lever on the side of the mechanism.

And Dawn screamed, as she felt herself in free-fall. Sliding down the cable so fast, she thought she'd go splat any second! And still worse, that instability was acting up, again. Twisting and churning inside of her, making her stomach turn somersaults.

Sparks were shooting across the cable.

Through which she could see another two descending figures, just above her. The sparks outlining Raykins and Hrequor.

"You're fine — it's a controlled fall," Raykins said. Giving a wave. "And we've got a long way to go."

Dawn soon learned… Raykins was right about that.

Really right.

After a while, the queasiness faded, and the sparks disappeared. After another while, the acceleration stopped, and Dawn got used to her speed. After yet another while, Dawn started to realize this was pretty cool.

Dropping like this, surrounded by nothing but blackness, the heat suit keeping in any heat from the friction of the cable, it was almost like… floating in space.

Dawn was weightless.

Her hand barely registered it was holding the cable.

Through the heat suit, she felt no wind. No air resistance. Her oxygen levels were regulated and monitored. She felt suddenly free and exhilarated, like she could fly! Like she was no longer restrained by gravity or whatever, and could do whatever she wanted!

"Whee!" Dawn cried.

That lasted a little while.

Then the novelty of the whole thing wore off.

And Dawn… just felt bored.

"How much more of this is there?" Dawn shouted up to Raykins.

The world shook and groaned around them. But the elevator shaft didn't collapse or anything, which just enhanced the boredom.

"A lot," Raykins said. A pause. Then, "Destroy the multi-verse, you said. Want to explain that?"

Dawn hesitated. Looking up at the empty blackness where Raykins had to be.

"It's… complicated," Dawn said. Hoping this would get her out of it.

No such luck.

"Is your niece also unstable, when you two are separated?" Raykins asked. "Is that what makes her the kind of weapon the Daleks want to get their hands on?"

Dawn had been hoping Raykins wouldn't put the pieces together.

"No, Seo's… different from me," Dawn tried. Because if IPSA thought Seo was mega dangerous by default, there was no telling what they'd do to her. "She has the ability to kill gods. That's why she's considered a weapon. But she doesn't have to use it! She doesn't even want to! She's a really sweet person who wouldn't voluntarily harm anyone."

A long silence.

Then, from Hrequor, "She… can kill… God?"

Raykins swore, loudly.

"What? No!" Dawn insisted. "No — Seo isn't killing God or whatever. She's—"

"I guess that explains the connection between Sunglasses and Dawn's niece," said Raykins. "This whole thing with the Daleks must have been a trap."

"To get this… 'Seo' out of the way," Hrequor guessed, "before pursuing…?"

"You heard Dawn," Raykins muttered. "Seo can kill God. What else do you expect from Sunglasses?"

Around them, the shaft walls were beginning to glow red hot. Even in her heat suit, Dawn could register it getting a little warm. Just a bit.

The air was now dully illuminated. And filled with heat-haze.

"Are you planning to explain what the hell you're talking about?" Dawn demanded. "Who's 'Sunglasses'?"

Raykins was quiet for a long while.

Then, with a sigh, she gave in.

"Tall woman, wearing heels and a sleek black dress," Raykins explained. "A pair of sunglasses perched on her head."

"Sunglasses that are actually disguised spy equipment, I figure," Hrequor added. "Judging by just how many things those sunglasses can do."

"When IPSA sent me here to investigate rumors of Dalek sightings," said Raykins, "I found her. Hrequor and his buddies aren't even sure when she showed up."

"We think she's been around as long as the Daleks, though," said Hrequor.

Dawn shuddered. "She's… working for them?"

"No," said Raykins. "But I think she brought them here."

"She seemed to be working on our side, for a while," said Hrequor. "Proved to us the extent of Dalek takeover. Promised to help rid our world of Daleks. At first, I trusted her, but Raykins told me… to be careful."

"She wouldn't tell us her name, or anything about herself," said Raykins.

Hence the nickname, Dawn guessed. 'Sunglasses'.

"Except a few cryptic comments like, 'glass pillars will bring the dawn', and other things hinting at your arrival," said Raykins. "And… what she called herself: 'God.'"

Dawn blinked.

"You don't mean…?" Dawn started.

"Creator of heaven and earth?" said Raykins. "Ruler of the afterlife and smiter of the unworthy? Big G, little O-D? That's what she said."

Oh.

Dawn felt her heart thud a little faster.

No wonder Raykins had been so intrigued by the idea that Seo could kill gods! If this 'Sunglasses' was some super angry vengeance-goddess from the beginning of the universe, or something…

Yeah.

Getting a god-killer like Seo out of the way would be the number one priority.

Geeze, Seo had better be okay, on that Dalek ship! All this, just for Drusilla?! If Buffy ever heard that Dawn let this kind of thing happen, Dawn was totally dead.

Please make Seo be all right…

Please… please…!

They were silent the rest of the way down.

* * *

The Dalek space ship where Seo wound up was dark and dreary. A space ship built purely for function, with no sense of aestheticism whatsoever.

The lights were kept low — well, naturally, if the Daleks could see just as well in light or dark — the ship was kept so cold that Seo's teeth kept chattering, as she rubbed her arms, and the only noise was that of the Daleks screaming orders… and the steady pulsing of their machinery.

"PRISONERS HAVE ARRIVED AT THE MAIN EXPERIMENT SHIP," the Dalek ushering them down the halls declared.

Another Dalek, already here, turned away from its work.

"THEY MUST BE RESTRAINED AND PREPARED FOR EXPERIMENTATION," it commanded.

"UNDERSTOOD."

Seo held Drusilla's hand, tightly. As a team of Daleks circled around them.

"THE FEMALE WILL SEPARATE FROM THE VAMPIRE," the Daleks demanded of Seo.

"No," Seo said.

She leveled her best threatening glare at them. And made sure she didn't let Drusilla's hand go.

Drusilla was just looking between Seo and the Daleks, fascinated.

"They've seen you as I have," Drusilla whispered. "So many faces, so many personas. All you. Different, yet the same person."

"THE VAMPIRE WILL BE SILENT!" the Daleks shouted.

Drusilla wasn't listening. Simply reflected. "My favorite is the you with the yo-yo," she decided. "She likes it when I kiss her."

"SILENCE!" shouted the Daleks. "SILENCE!"

"THE FEMALE SEOSYRAE WILL SEPARATE FROM THE VAMPIRE," commanded the Dalek who'd led them in, "OR SEOSYRAE WILL BE EXTERMINATED."

"You... know my name?" said Seo.

A chill ran down her spine. As she realized… what Drusilla had meant.

"You've… met other incarnations of me before," Seo realized. "Both the Daleks and Drusilla." She turned back to Drusilla. " _Bisexual_ incarnations of me!"

Drusilla gave a crafty grin, put a finger to her lips. "Shhhh…"

"THE DALEKS ARE AWARE OF YOU," one of the Daleks reported.

"YOUR TRIPS TO JARODIN HAVE BEEN OBSERVED," another one said.

"THEIR PURPOSE HAS BEEN DEDUCED," a third remarked.

Which meant the Daleks only knew Drusilla was there… because of Seo.

She had put her friend's life at risk.

Stupid!

"So many facets, all converging," Drusilla said. "So many pretty shiny ones, about to unite. So many Seos! Coming together, as your life and your time-stream unravel upon the wind!"

"SEOSYRAE AND THE VAMPIRE WILL SEPARATE!" shouted a Dalek to Seo's right. "OR SEOSYRAE WILL BE EXTERMINATED!"

Seo swallowed, hard.

Putting aside Drusilla's prophecies, so she could think through her options with the Daleks. Did she dare…? Could she dare…? Yes. She could. The Slitheen had told her as much, hadn't they?

She fixed a determined look on her face, and stood closer to Drusilla. Her eyes glaring into the nearest Dalek's eyestalk.

"I don't think so," Seo challenged. "Exterminate me, and you destroy the super-weapon you've been hunting through the universe to find. You wouldn't risk doing that."

A Dalek beam shot out, and struck Seo full on. Not killing her, but making her whole body sear with pain forcing a scream from her throat.

Next thing Seo knew, Drusilla's hand had fallen away from hers.

And Drusilla had stepped back.

Seo looked up. Her breath still coming too heavily. Her eyes falling on Drusilla, as she realized… for the first time… that she wasn't important in and of herself.

Never had been.

"THE VAMPIRE WILL OBEY," the Daleks commanded Drusilla, herding her away from Seo. "THE VAMPIRE WILL OBEY THE DALEKS!"

Drusilla's eyes met Seo's. A small smile touching her lips. "My shiny little pretty one," she whispered, so softly that Seo almost didn't hear it.

Then she let the Daleks lead her away.

Drusilla.

Who'd scraped and scratched and torn at Seo, last time Seo had let herself past the energy barrier. Who'd rejoiced and delighted in hearing Seo scream, and had reveled in the thought of driving Seo mad with pain and torment.

And here Drusilla was… obeying the Daleks to save Seo's life.

Why?

WHY?!

One of the Daleks drifted over to Seo. Eyestalk glaring down at her. "YOU WILL STAND," it demanded.

Seo tried, but she couldn't feel her legs after the last attack, and promptly fell over, again. Smacking down hard onto the ground.

"STAND!" the Dalek screamed. "STAND! OR YOU WILL BE EX—"

"You don't want me as a weapon," Seo said. Managing to make it to her hands and knees. "Everyone else wants me as a genocide-causing super-weapon, but you..." She shook her head, trying to figure it out. "Why?"

The Dalek slid closer to her. Its eyestalk blazing, blinding her with its blue light. "THE DALEKS ARE THE ULTIMATE GENOCIDE SUPER-WEAPON," it told her. "NEXT TO US, YOU ARE USELESS."

Seo could hear the sound of its weapon charging up, ready to fire. Twitching, eagerly, to actually do the job and kill her for good, this time.

And couldn't help but think… maybe… the Daleks were right.

"YOU WILL STAND!" the Dalek shrieked. "OR YOU WILL BE EXTERMINATED!"

Seo stood.

Realizing… for the first time, she wasn't special. Wasn't important. Not unique or exceptional or anything the Daleks even needed to fear. No.

In their eyes… she was nothing.

Just a bargaining chip to ensure the cooperation of a vampire who wanted to torture her.

That terrified her.


	7. Chapter 7

When Dawn, Raykins, and Hrequor finally arrived at the dark pod at the bottom of the elevator shaft, where the Tectonic Defense Systems were housed, the heat around them permeated even through Dawn's suit. It was like being inside an oven… or getting boiled alive...

Or something.

"Airlock's up," Hrequor noted, disengaging himself from the harness that had gotten him down the elevator shaft. "That means the temperature in there is astronomical."

"Hope the safety shut down protocols aren't all melted," Raykins muttered, ushering Dawn and Hrequor inside the airlock. Then sealing the door shut behind her, and securing it to make sure it was air-tight. "Lucky for us, the oxygen controls in this suit work without power. But the comms systems do require power, so once the suits become air-tight, we won't be able to talk."

"There's… no oxygen in there?!" Dawn cried. "But… why?"

"Standard procedure, when the temperature gets too hot," said Hrequor, double-checking his oxygen supply. "Don't want to chance the facility turning into a giant fireball, in case the power goes out. So when it gets hot enough, the bulkhead door to the elevator shaft closes, and the air is taken out of the room."

"No oxygen means no fires," Raykins confirmed. Gestured around herself. "All the people evacuate through the airlock, which is also supposed to be cooling us down to safe temperatures… if it weren't broken. Perfect system."

Dawn wasn't sure how she felt about it.

But she guessed there were worse things to do than walking into a room completely deprived of air.

Raykins tripped something mechanical-looking, and then shouted out, "Hold on to something!"

Dawn grabbed at a nearby support strut, just as a sucking sound started up around her, accompanied this strong feeling like Dawn was being sucked into a giant vacuum cleaner!

Damn! This _was_ an airlock!

Then it stopped. And Raykins stepped forwards, yanking the handle down on the inner door, and swinging it open.

They all stepped forwards.

The whole room and all the controls and metallic equipment inside was all glowing red hot. It was enough that Raykins, Dawn, and Hrequor could actually manage to see down here, which… was kind of weird.

And disturbing, because Dawn could see a whole bunch of Dalek-exterminated people, down here, too. Now lying, dead on the floor. Some with Dalek control devices sticking out of their heads.

Raykins raced forward to look at the controls to the tectonic plate instruments. Then threw up her hands in irritation.

Dawn could see why.

About half of them were melted.

Hrequor mouthed something, racing over to help her. Squatted down, squinting at the machinery. Began pointing emphatically, which only made Raykins more irritated.

She smacked his hand away, then turned to another one of the machines.

Winced, shaking out her fingers, as the heat from the metal sizzled at her hands — even through her heat suit.

Dawn could feel her insides twisting more than ever, down here.

And not from the heat.

She took a step, and the overhead lights flickered on for a few seconds.

The cooling systems roaring into life around them.

Then… it all cut out, again.

Raykins turned. Delight on her face. She made a gesture that seemed to shout, "More! More! Keep doing that!"

Dawn cringed. "It's unstable!" she insisted. "You don't know what you're…!"

Except no one could hear her past her heat suit.

Damn vacuum.

The planet gave a sudden, violent tremor. Things clattering down to the ground, from the ceiling and the walls, making Dawn have to leap out of the way. She lost her footing, reached out to catch herself, and a sudden red hot flash tore through the cooling systems.

"No!" shouted Hrequor, silently.

Dawn stared, horrified. The system was just a lump of metal, now. Like she'd suddenly moved all the heat to that area… without knowing it. Worse, still, she was feeling the heat even more than before, burning across her…

Raykins yanked her away, and Dawn instantly felt better.

Okay. Dawn was feeling a little freaked by this whole unstable-Key thing, now.

Raykins looked around herself. Then stopped, as her eyes fell on something that had been nearly lost in the almost-darkness of the pod. Something that made Raykins mouth something, her eyes twinkling.

Hrequor looked at her.

Raykins beamed, pointing and shouting something that neither of them could hear. Then, dropping Dawn, raced over to it, gesturing with her hand for the others to follow.

The moment Hrequor spotted it, he surged forwards. Also shouting in silent relief.

Dawn had no idea what they were so happy about.

It looked like a metallic version of an upside down ice cream cone. Raykins was scrabbling around it, gesturing frantically at Hrequor, who likewise gestured back at her.

They were analyzing the machine in detail.

And Dawn was starting to feel hot enough that she might spontaneously combust, herself, any second, now. Worse still, that heavy-weight feeling inside of her was back in full-swing, now. Along with this kind of dread Dawn could feel in her teeth, like the universe was holding its breath, just waiting for her to sound its death knoll.

Then Dawn realized… both Raykins and Hrequor were gesturing at _her_.

Okay then…

Judging by how they were so intent on that cone thing, Dawn guessed they wanted her to touch it. So… yeah. She could do that.

Reached out her hand.

Before she could even get manage to touch it, a spark ran from her fingers into the device. The intense heat Dawn was feeling even through her heat suit seemed to ebb, just a bit, and the cone-thing rumbled.

Then the metal shell around it unfolded in a series of metallic panels, all raising up.

The metallic plates shuddered… then stopped. Not raised fully… but it looked, from Hrequor and Raykins' happy reactions, like it had been enough.

"What is this thing?" Dawn asked Hrequor and Raykins.

They couldn't hear her. But Dawn soon got them to understand the general idea by hitting them on the arm and making exaggerated miming signals.

Raykins gave a small grin.

Then, tracing her finger on one of the metal panels, spelled out two letters.

"E-M."

"The EM generator thing that's knocking out all the power to stuff!" Dawn realized.

Raykins nodded. Then grinned at Dawn.

"So… you've got a plan-type thing, huh?" Dawn guessed.

Raykins then gave a very complicated-looking hand gesture, which Dawn figured was some future-style galactic hand signal for… something.

But she didn't know what.

Hrequor raced in, with a power cable. It seemed to be connected to the machinery Raykins had complained, earlier, was partly melted. The machinery, Dawn guessed, that had the safety reset controls in it.

And it was as Raykins began hooking it up to the EM field generator, through those panel thingies… that Dawn figured out what they must be doing!

The EM generator was a machine, and it was clearly working — at least to some extent. They were trying to make its power instead go into the safety stuff!

Oh, major coolness!

Then Dawn shivered. For no reason, inside her heat suit, it had suddenly gotten ice-cold. And at the same time, also for no apparent reason, Dawn felt her whole body suddenly buzzing with energy. Like she'd just… soaked it up… from the air around her…

Oh, that wasn't good.

This must be what the Doctor meant by 'unstable'.

"And this is just small-scale stuff," Dawn said, with a grimace. "If Seo dies… I'm guessing I'll be sucking the heat out of whole galaxies or whatever."

Raykins spun around. Gestured at Dawn, again.

But the moment Dawn took a step forwards, a violent burst of green energy shot out of her, hurtling through the air faster than she could register!

Knocked Raykins to the ground, and flooded the cone-thing, surging through the power cable and right into Hrequor.

Hrequor gave a silent scream, as the energy arched through him!

Dropped the cable to the ground, and then….

The heat suit fell down.

And Hrequor was just… gone. Disappeared, as if he'd never been there at all.

Raykins peeled herself up from the floor, staring in horror at Hrequor. Dawn raced over to check if there was anything she could do, but before she made it…

The cone started acting funny.

And so did the controls around them.

The planet shook even more than it had before, the instruments of the safety protocol equipment suddenly flicking on and reporting a whole bunch of angry-looking red lights. Raykins raced towards them, looking pretty frantic and pretty desperate.

A warning light flashed, which counted down to complete planetary destruction.

Okay, so… looked like the EM generator idea had just made things worse.

Or else Dawn had screwed it up even more.

But now that the overwhelming swelter in Dawn's heat suit had been taken care of, and the temperature had evened out, Dawn found she could think again. She looked around herself, and suddenly realized… the answer was obvious. Totally obvious.

She grabbed up Raykins, and hauled her back towards the bulkhead that had sealed off the elevator shaft. Could feel energy building up in her body, again. Ready for another go.

But Dawn was ready, this time.

Raykins, bewildered, only had time to mouth a confused, "What…?"

Before Dawn ripped off Raykins' heat glove, slamming her hand down on the control to release the bulkhead door to the elevator shaft and the teleport device on Raykins' wrist — at the same time.

Raykins and Dawn only just caught sight of the fireball racing into the room along with the oxygen from the elevator shaft, towards the cone's exposed wiring — before they found themselves teleported away. Back to Raykins' ship.

The ground lurched beneath them.

Then went still.

And Raykins looked around them, amazed. As the planet Jarodin went back to normal.

"You did it," Raykins said, taking off her helmet. She then examined the hand that Dawn had exposed, down in the room with the tectonic plate controller equipment. "Not even burned. I… can't… believe it."

Dawn took off her own helmet. "Yeah, well, it was a pretty obvious solution," she said. Shaking out her hair. "Blow it up, and get out. I don't know why we didn't do that the moment we arrived down there."

"Korjensky wants the Dalek tech," Raykins replied. "I was trying to save the planet and keep it in tact. According to Korjensky directives." She kept staring down at her unburned hand. Bending and flexing her fingers. "Just one touch of your hand on my teleporter got it working, again. Brilliant. Just…" She paused. Then, spinning on Dawn, said, "Wait a sec. How'd you know where my teleporter was?!"

Dawn raised up her hands in surrender. "Hey, number one thing a kleptomaniac like me remembers," she pointed out, "is where the flashy cool-stuff-to-steal is."

Raykins stared at her, a second longer.

Then dropped her head, and laughed.

"Come on," Raykins said. "Let's gather up this 'Oliver' of yours, and head off. Time to work out what to do about your niece."

* * *

Seo wound up inside a cell with absolutely no light. The air smelled stale and rotten. The only other indications, when Seo first entered, that there were other people nearby… was the sounds of breathing, and rustling clothing.

She'd tried to take a step forwards, to greet the others, but her legs crumpled under the pain of her earlier assault, and she crashed to the ground, again.

She stayed there for a long time.

Listening to the others murmuring in the shadows. Some asleep. Most terrified. All weary of her.

It took a while before any of them came up to Seo.

By that point her eyes had adjusted, but even _her_ eyes could never adjust completely to _this_ level of darkness. Still, when someone came up to her, Seo could make out the shape. Make out some features.

"Which squad did they take you from?" the someone asked.

Seo's mind was still too overloaded by the pain of the earlier Dalek assault to be able to properly process this. "Squad?"

"They must have started in on her early," said a deeper voice, nearby.

Footsteps, as Seo saw the deeper-voice someone else coming over to her.

"Harriet Pomsale," the deeper voice introduced. "VQ 28."

"And I'm Teriza Terrice," said the first voice. "VQ 40."

A few other voices chimed in. Introducing themselves. Mostly women's voices, but a few men, and a number of alien-sounding creatures thrown into the mix. Many were quiet, reluctant to offer anything at all.

"I… I don't… know what you're talking about," Seo confessed. "What's a… VQ? And why…?" She squinted through the darkness, better making out the shape of Harriet Pomsale. "Why are you missing body parts?"

For a few seconds there was absolute silence.

Then came the sound of feet scuffling away, rapidly, as the two people nearby her darted away, at high speed.

"She's not one of us," came Teriza's voice.

"It's the nano-genes," said Pomsale. "We've triggered them. Any minute now, she'll sprout an eyestalk in the middle of her forehead and mow us down."

Seo put her hand to her forehead, a little bewildered. It felt exactly the way it always had.

"No, it's worse than that," said another woman, from further away. Karlyn, she'd called herself. "She's their latest prototype. Their latest attempt at creating a Slayer Replicant who actually triggers as a code 5 on our scanners!"

This seemed to trigger a wave of anger from everyone in the room.

"We all know that's why they've been looking for vampires!" said one of the other girls. "We're Vampire Slayers! Find out how vampires work, and they'll find out how we work! They can create a Slayer who registers as a code 5!"

"They have a vampire!" shouted another.

"And now they've made the duplicate!" screamed a third.

In a moment, they were all lunging at Seo, trying to tear her apart.

Seo, recalling every trick she'd ever picked up from Mom, managed to dodge and roll out of their way, gritting her teeth against the pain of the Dalek ray, then she tip-toed to the other end of the cell. Scarcely breathing, as the others frantically tried to find her, despite the near blackness.

"In the name of Bunfy Sompters, and all that IPSA stands for," shouted Pomsale, "we'll strike you down where you stand!"

Seo blinked. "You know Mom?"

Then realized.

"You know Mom!" Seo cried. "Because this is the 39th century, and Mom came here! She fought against Daleks and… and… IPSA. The Slayers! There's a war going on!"

Seo's thoughts were becoming clearer and clearer, now, as the pain was finally beginning to wear off. Yes. Yes, that's right! Mom _had_ gone to the 39th century and fought Daleks. With Father. And… that's right — when Seo had been facing off against the Celestial Toymaker, Father had mentioned this very Experimentation Ship!

Oh, now everything was finally beginning to make sense!

Too late, Seo realized she'd just given away her position in the room. She tried to dart out of the way, but Pomsale was too fast, and had her slammed up against the wall before Seo could do anything about it.

"You're making a mistake!" Seo protested. "I might not be IPSA, but I'm still a friend! I can help you get out of here."

Pomsale gave a bitter laugh. "No one gets off this ship alive," she spat. "Wendon, over there, was on the last IPSA mission to liberate the Experiment Ship, and he's the only survivor. Much as you can call _that_ surviving."

A rasped breathing and a strangled cry came from the corner. A cry that used to be a man's voice… but something had happened to him. Something horrible.

This was all he could manage, now.

"You Dalek agents never get it," said Pomsale. "What makes us Slayers unique isn't our biological make-up. It's not our DNA or our Sineyic Essence. It's Bunfy Sompters who made us this way. If you don't know her, then there's no hope in hell that you'll ever—"

"If _I_ don't know her!" Seo protested. " _You're_ the ones who can't even get her name right!"

Pomsale hesitated, and Seo used that moment of hesitation to wriggle out of her grasp, and race to the other side of the cell.

Her limbs were still aching from the Dalek beam.

"She's my mom," said Seo. "I know her better than any of you." She sucked in a sharp breath. "And if you don't want her storming out here to the future and beating you all to a bloody pulp, you'll stop trying to kill me!"

This made them hesitate.

Just for a few seconds.

"She can't really be…?" Teriza started.

That was when the door slid open. The dim light from the corridor enough to blind them, as they all winced away from it.

"THE FEMALE SEOSYRAE AND SLAYER 215 WILL FOLLOW!" the Daleks demanded.

Seo could feel the pressure of all those eyes boring into her. Because for some reason — a reason Seo didn't quite understand — the Daleks knew her by name.

Seo had kept her name and identity.

The rest of them… were just numbers.

"MOVE!" shouted the Dalek. "MOVE! OR YOU WILL BE EXTERMINATED!"

Seo moved.

Obeyed every command they gave.

She needed to escape, needed to save Drusilla, but somehow… her brain had run out of ideas. Like everything had drained from her.

Replaced by nothing but dread.

Seo followed the Daleks. Just waiting to see… what they in store for her.


	8. Chapter 8

Dawn soon found herself packed inside of Deborah Raykins' IPSA space ship. And she _meant_ 'packed'. It had been a tight squeeze from the start… and the fact that they were carrying Seo's space ship around with them wasn't helping.

Or… actually… it was helping a lot, in a certain sense.

After all.

Dawn wasn't randomly shooting out energy, anymore. Or at least, not visibly.

That was good.

"The ship's reading are all over the place," Raykins cursed. Frantically flipping and poking and prodding at things. "Like there's some massive unstable energy source nearby that keeps interfering with…"

She stopped.

Then looked over at Dawn.

"Oh," she said. Pulled her hand away. "Never mind."

Dawn felt more than slightly unnerved by this. Yeah, she was the Key, but… she usually tried to keep that info kind of under the table.

She hated blowing her cover like this.

Raykins checked a reading. Then redirected her ship somewhere else. "Truth is, I _should_ be taking you back to Korjensky, right now," she admitted. "But seeing as… you're… well…"

"Unstable?" Dawn put in.

"…better keep you as close to… your niece… as possible," Raykins agreed.

Dawn broke into a huge smile. "So we _are_ going to rescue her!" she cried.

Raykins shot Dawn a pointed stare. " _I'm_ going to rescue her," she said. Eyes snapped back ahead of her, at the space. "No, you're getting dropped with some friends of mine. Their ship's out of the militarized zone for some refueling, repairing, and re-gunning. You'll be safe, there."

Dawn felt anger flaring up inside of her. "Yeah, right! You think I'm gonna just sit back while some Daleks torture my…!"

"That's exactly what you're going to do," Raykins snapped. "I don't care who you are or what legendary monsters you've fought against. According to IPSA regulations, you're an unarmed civilian, a non-combatant, and a battlefield liability. I'm not taking you into a combat zone. Especially not a zone filled with Daleks."

Dawn went quiet for a while.

"You'll be okay," Raykins assured her. "Your niece will be okay. I give you my word on that." Her hands tightened around the wheel of the ship. "But you're staying with VQ 17."

"With what?"

"Vanquisher 17," said Raykins. A smile lit up her face. "My second home. It's where I was posted before my promotion." Her eyes went a little distant, for a moment. "That's one of the drawbacks of being smart enough to get promoted to IPSA Intelligence. Sure, you wind up having a chance to really make a difference in this war — instead of just being Dalek target practice. But… you have to leave all your friends behind. Knowing… if they ever need you… you won't be around to help."

Dawn could see, on Raykins' face.

That had been the hardest thing for her.

"So why did you accept the promotion?" Dawn asked.

Raykins stole a glance at her. "I had to," she said. "It was my duty. High Command thought I could be useful in an intelligence capacity, and I follow their orders. I trust their decisions."

Dawn gave a half-shrug. "You still didn't shoot me after I tested positive for Replicant Whateverness."

Raykins went very quiet.

"And you didn't shoot down Seo, even though your orders said you had to," Dawn continued. "And then you told me all about Sunglasses, even though that stuff was probably pretty top-secret." Shrugged. "Sounds to me like you don't really trust this IPSA High Command as much as you think."

"It's the duty if everyone at IPSA to follow orders."

"Yeah?"

"We have an army of a two million out here," said Raykins, evenly, "fighting to defend this galactic sector from one of the most evil threats in the universe. If no one obeyed their orders, we'd fall into chaos and lose this war in a matter of minutes."

Dawn shifted in place. "Ria has this phrase she likes to use," she provided. "'Order-Smart'. It's like following orders, except you do it in a smart way. Like, in this one battle, Faith was supposed to take out the Rolip Demons, but all her Slayer instincts told her it was a bad idea. So she stuck near them, found out they were the biggest gossips of the demon world, and then took that info back to Ria. Ria was really happy, and instead of killing the Rolip Demons, we used them to spread false intelligence to the enemy."

Raykins nodded, slowly. "That would be… Ria Hiskaloph?" she said.

Dawn was a little startled. "Yeah," she said. "How did you…?" Then stopped. As she realized, "Oh, she's probably famous or something."

"One of the first Presidents of the Slayer Institute," Raykins said. She glanced at Dawn. "A contemporary of yours, Dawn Sompters?"

"Summers," said Dawn, automatically. It took her brain another second before she processed what this meant, and added, "Wait, so… you believe my whole back story thing!"

"It's the only thing that makes sense," Raykins replied. She drummed her fingers against the wheel of the space ship. "I don't know how I'm going to explain it to High Command, though. They'd never believe me in a million years."

Dawn was actually kind of relieved about that.

She didn't know what kinds of crazy-weird legends these guys had built up about Buffy and the Sunnydale gang, but she had the feeling that if IPSA command knew, for a fact, that Dawn was around — they'd drag her into this war. And Seo, too.

If there was one thing Dawn _didn't_ want to do to her niece, it was get her involved in a massive Dalek war.

No, thanks.

"I'd actually kind of like it better if you didn't tell anyone at IPSA who I am," Dawn said. "Just… you know. So I don't get too involved."

Raykins frowned.

"This war will be over, soon," Dawn said. "I promise. But… Seo and I aren't the ones who end it."

And Dawn was guessing that if she stuck around long enough that Buffy showed up… a pre-Dracula Buffy, who didn't have a sister and had only just defeated Adam…

… _that_ Buffy, meeting a sister she didn't have yet, along with a daughter who so obviously acted like a certain hyperactive Time Lord whom Buffy had a massive crush on…

…well, Dawn didn't know too much about time stuff.

But she was guessing that would be time-space explodingly _bad_.

"The war will be over soon?" Raykins shook her head. "How do you know this?"

"It's complicated," said Dawn. "And I don't know all the details." Thanks to Buffy being all with the stuck-uppedness and argumentativeness. "But I do know that Seo and I can't stick around for it. And… anyways… if I got Seo into a huge Dalek-shoot-out, Buffy would _kill_ me."

"Buffy," Raykins repeated. Deadpan.

"Yeah, my…" Dawn trailed off. "Oh. You… already know who my sister is, huh?"

"I didn't know Bun… Buffy… had any children," Raykins said.

Dawn giggled at this. "Yeah, neither did she," she said. "But that's Seo for you. Full of surprises." Her giggles fell away, into melancholy, as she remembered… where Seo was. She buried her face in her hands. "Oh, Buffy's going to kick my ass big time if she finds out I let Seo get captured by Daleks. You have no idea how much Buffy loves that kid."

Raykins flickered her eyes over. "I'm going to get her back."

"You say that," said Dawn, "but I'd feel a lot more secure if I could come along, too."

"IPSA protocols," said Raykins. "I can't do that."

"Those are the same IPSA protocols that made you almost blow up Seo?" Dawn challenged.

Raykins didn't say anything.

But her resolve held firm.

"I may not be on the official register, or anything, but… I _have_ worked for the Slayers in the past," Dawn pointed out. "I was involved in the Final War of the Hellmouth, the Demon Civil War, the—"

"But you've never faced down Daleks before," Raykins replied.

"Says who?!" snapped Dawn. "Last time I faced down a Dalek was with the Doctor! Trust me, I get Daleks."

For a long moment, there was silence.

An unreadable expression passing across Raykins' face.

Raykins cleared her throat. "This… Doctor. What do you know about him?"

Dawn was on edge immediately. "Why do you want to know?"

"I'm curious," said Raykins.

"Because you want to capture him and hand him over to your IPSA High Command whatevers to get the secrets of time travel out of him?" Dawn challenged. Yeah, she remembered _that_ particular Buffy melt-down. Wasn't about to give someone who was all IPSA's-Always-Right anything she could use against the Doctor.

Raykins pursed her lips, in thought. "You… mentioned," she began to explain, "that you and your niece were brought to Jarodin by an outside force."

"Yeah, there was something about the vortex, around there," said Dawn. "It looked all weird through the windows. And…"

Dawn trailed off.

As she realized what Raykins was getting at.

"You said, on Jarodin, that this whole thing was a trap for Seo!" said Dawn. "Set by that Sunglasses person."

Raykins shook her head. "A trap, yes. But… not for Seo."

Oh.

Uh, oh.

"The Doctor?" Dawn realized. "Sunglasses purposely tried to make sure Seo got kidnapped by the Daleks… to lure the Doctor to…!"

Oh, it made sense!

Maybe this was what had lured the Doctor to the 39th century in the first place! He was looking for Seo, and then Adam was resurrected, and that whole thing with Buffy getting sent to the future had started. Or… something.

Dawn didn't know for sure.

That was the problem with being 'Slayer's little sister'. Dawn knew that Buffy went to the future — to right around now — and met the Doctor and the Slayers and Resurrected-Adam and a whole bunch of other people. But Buffy hadn't given Dawn enough details about what had happened in the 39th century for Dawn to know how the whole chain of events had started.

And Buffy had never mentioned anything about… 'Sunglasses'.

Was that because Dawn, right here and now, had managed to foil Sunglasses' plans? Was that Dawn's role in this whole crazy thing?

"If this is a trap to draw the Doctor into this war," said Raykins, "I need to advise High Command about whom they can trust. The Doctor, or—"

"No!" Dawn cut in, sharply. "Don't tell IPSA High Command about the Doctor. Definitely not!"

Buffy would _double_ kill her for that one.

Raykins' face went very grave at this. But she said nothing.

"Look, you _can_ trust the Doctor," Dawn said. "I'd trust him with anything. Buffy would trust him with anything. I mean, he's Seo's…!" Then she stopped. As she realized that sharing this bit of information would probably not be good for timelines, either.

…or had she shared it already? Damn. Dawn couldn't remember!

"But you can't tell IPSA high-up people about him," said Dawn. "Buffy would never let me hear the end of it, if you did. And… well, I don't think _he'd_ like it much, either." She thought back to the Doctor, a small smile settling across her lips. "He's doesn't do well with military big-wigs. He's kind of more… little-people oriented."

Something about this statement seemed to rattle Raykins to the core.

But she immediately smoothed over any unease that was showing on her face.

"Someone has to know," said Raykins. "Otherwise, the moment he arrives, he'll be killed. Either by the Daleks, or by us. And if he's as big a Dalek fighter as he seems… he'd be a lot more use to the war effort alive than dead."

"Can you stop talking about people just in terms of their soldier-ness?" Dawn shook her head. "I mean… geeze! It sounds like you're _happy_ the Doctor's being set-up, because it gives you IPSA guys a chance to snag him and use him for your own purposes!"

"I didn't—"

"You can't force someone to fight a war they don't want to fight!" Dawn shouted. "I mean, the Daleks are out there, right now, probably trying to force Seo to go all Mega-Glory on IPSA, despite _everything_ she believes in… and you're prepared to do the same thing to get the Doctor to fight for your side! What the hell is wrong with you?"

Raykins was silent.

And Dawn realized… she was being stupid, here.

What was this helping? Buffy had said that most of the IPSA people were actually pretty cool, and didn't want the Doctor hurt at all. It'd do Dawn no favors at all to antagonize Raykins, who was obviously smart enough to work out when to bend the rules a little.

"Sorry," said Dawn. Slumping a little in her seat. "I'm just… _really_ worried about Seo."

"You should be," said Raykins. Her face was a blank mask. "Now that I know just how powerful she is… I can't let the Daleks use her for their own ends. If I can't get her back, Dawn… IPSA directives are to take out her and the Daleks performing the research at all costs."

Dawn's eyes widened. "You can't! She's Buffy's daughter!"

"And chances are she's already dead," Raykins snapped. "They're Daleks, Dawn. That's what they do! Exterminate people." Raykins' face went even stonier. "I'd say there's a fifty percent chance she's already dead. With anyone else, I'd estimate 99 percent… but a super-weapon? Down to fifty."

"She can't be…!"

"If she _is_ alive," Raykins continued, "she's almost certainly not under her own control, anymore. 75% chance she's been infected by nanogenes, or her brain's been wiped clean, or she's been turned into a robo-man, or… oh, everything else that they do. Take your pick."

Dawn shuddered.

Oh, God, she didn't want to think like that! Couldn't think like that!

"That means there's a twenty five percent chance she's all right — out of the fifty percent chance they haven't killed her on the spot," said Raykins. "Thirteen percent chance, overall, that there's anything left to rescue."

Dawn swallowed hard.

"Add to that the additional 30% chance that the rescue attempt would succeed," said Raykins, "and we're down to 4%. A 4% chance we can get Seo back from the Daleks. And the longer they keep her alive, the better the chance that they'll discover how Seo could help them exterminate the rest of the universe."

This is why Dawn didn't like math and percentages.

It made things sound a lot more depressing.

"We know she's not dead yet, though," Dawn said, tentatively. "If she was… I'd go completely unstable, and the universe would end."

Raykins gripped the steering wheel even tighter. Her knuckles turning white. "Which means the probability that the Daleks will end the universe, now that they have Seo, is practically 100%. Because either they kill her, and you end the universe. Or they figure out how to use her to do the same thing."

Yeah.

Dawn definitely hated percentages.

"IPSA protocols state that we can't take that kind of chance," said Raykins. "That's why they're there! To prevent situations like this. If I'd blown up that ship, taken you out as a Dalek Replicant… I wouldn't be in this mess!"

"And you'd have killed Buffy's only sister and only daughter," Dawn said.

Raykins was very quiet.

Then, with an exasperated sigh, she seemed to accept this.

"I'll keep your secrets, Dawn," Raykins said. "I'll take insane risks for you. And I'll probably get myself killed trying to do so." She glanced over at Dawn. "But I _will not_ take you with me to rescue your niece. That's the end of it."

Dawn opened her mouth to protest.

But realized… this was probably the best she was going to get.

So she changed her protest into a nod.

"Good," Raykins said. Punched in buttons into the nav computer. "Then let's get to VQ 17."


	9. Chapter 9

Seo was pressed up against a solid wall, her hands strapped down against two crackling metallic energy balls. Numerous Daleks were circling her, but few gave her even a cursory glance.

Their attention seemed to be fixed on the Slayer they'd taken from the cell. Now secured to a horizontal metal table.

Seo didn't know her name.

"COMMENCE CELLULAR EXTRACTION PROCESS!" shouted one of the Daleks.

A series of knives and blades and weapons of torture opened up from the ceiling. Came crashing down around the Slayer, as she screamed. Ripping her apart.

"Stop!" Seo shouted.

But they didn't care what she said.

She wasn't important to them.

"Stop or… or I'll… destroy you all!" Seo threatened. "With my weapon super-powers!"

"SILENCE!" one of the Daleks demanded.

"I mean it!" Seo said. "I will!"

But it was a bluff, and the Daleks knew it.

Seo wouldn't release the Glory inside of her. Not to defeat the Master. Not to defeat the Daleks. She wouldn't destroy one enemy by letting loose something infinitely worse.

"CELLULAR EXTRACTION COMPLETE," the Daleks reported, as the tools moved away. Revealing all that was left of the screaming Slayer.

Seo looked away from the bloody mess.

She felt she might be ill.

"EXTRACTION PENDING ANALYSIS," the Daleks said.

"What was that for?" Seo asked. Voice shaking. "There was no need for it. You massacred her for no reason!"

That was when the Daleks did begin to take note of Seo.

A few swiveling around their eye-stalks to look right at her.

"YOU HAVE KNOWLEDGE OF THE ORIGINS OF THE SLAYER," one of the Daleks said.

"No," Seo said.

The electric charge that seared through her made her gasp with pain.

"DETECTOR INDICATES UNTRUTHFUL RESPONSE!" shouted a Dalek by a machine bay. "THE SUBJECT DOES HAVE KNOWLEDGE OF THE ORIGINES OF THE SLAYER!"

"That's… a lie detector," Seo realized. Shook her head. "But… that's impossible! Machines can't pick up my brain…!"

"DALEK TECHNOLOGY IS SUPERIOR TO ALL," the Daleks told her.

Seo was starting to understand that.

"I… I don't…" Seo hesitated. "What do you want to know? About the Slayer?"

The Dalek interrogating her slid forwards. "THE SLAYERS CANNOT EXIST. IT IS NOT PROBABLE."

Seo didn't know how to answer that.

"THEY ARE NOT HUMAN," said a Dalek to Seo's right. "BUT THEY SCAN AS HUMAN."

"THEY ARE INFERIOR TO THE DALEKS," said a Dalek to Seo's left. "BUT THEY SUCCEED WHERE DALEKS FAIL."

"STORIES OF THEIR ORIGIN ARE INCONSISTENT LIES," the Dalek interrogator said. "LOOKING THROUGH HISTORY, THEY COME FROM NOWHERE. THEY CANNOT POSSIBLY HAVE EVOLVED."

Seo gaped in horror.

As she realized…

"That's why you're tearing them apart," said Seo. "You can't work out… how they exist."

"BUT YOU KNOW," said the Daleks. "EXPLAIN! EXPLAIN!"

"I… don't know very much!" Seo insisted. "There's… a genetic connection between them and me. That's true."

She hoped it'd be enough to get her off the hook.

After all.

Even if they could see her, there was no way they'd be able to access her genetics.

…right?

"DETECTOR INDICATES TRUTHFUL RESPONSE," the Dalek said.

"SCANS REVEAL A LINK BETWEEN VAMPIRES AND THE SLAYER," the interrogator Dalek told Seo. "EXPLAIN!"

Ah.

Seo was guessing that was due to the connection between Time Lord genetics and vampire genetics, which dated back all the way to that Time Lord war against the Great Vampires. Dad had told her about that.

Time to make sure the Daleks didn't know it.

"They… they were created as Vampire Slayers," Seo said. "It would make sense that—"

"THEY WERE CREATED?" the Dalek interrogator interrupted. "NOT EVOLVED?"

Stupid Seo.

Why'd she said that?

"There were… Shadow Men who made the Slayers," said Seo, carefully. "I don't know who the Shadow Men are. I don't understand what their name means, or where or when you could find them. I… I wasn't there. I don't know!"

"DETECTOR INDICATES TRUTHFUL RESPONSE," the Dalek by the machinery reported.

Seo was reaching up her sleeve, for the bent paperclip she'd tucked in there, earlier. Brainwave idea! If lying created an electric pulse...

She jammed one end into the cuffs, and the other into the ball. Then shouted, "Green elephants fly on Earth!"

Obvious lie.

The detector picked it up, but Seo moved her hand away before she could get the surge of electricity from it. Instead, the electricity arched up the paperclip…

Come on, short circuit!

Except… it didn't short circuit.

Seo stared at the clever plan that had utterly failed to work. Then stared up at the Daleks, who seemed to almost have been expecting it.

"WE KNOW HOW YOU WILL TRY TO ESCAPE," said one of the Daleks. "THROUGH THE ONE WITH SUNGLASSES, WE KNOW HOW TO MAKE SURE YOU ALWAYS FAIL."

Seo's breath came more rapidly. Sunglasses. Again. Like Drusilla had said…

This 'Sunglasses' lady had put her here. A 'Sunglasses' lady who knew everything about Seo. That, combined with their experience dealing with future-hers… meant that Seo _couldn't_ get out of this one!

The Daleks somehow understood how to track and manipulate her completely. They couldn't be coerced or persuaded, couldn't be tricked, saw through her every bluff and her every advantage…

How could she possibly defeat them?

No.

Not defeat. This was like the Master. Best thing Seo could do was get out while she still could. Just rescue Drusilla and leave.

Which was when the door opened.

And Drusilla was marched inside.

Drusilla looked horrible. As if they'd been tearing into her since the last time Seo had seen her, trying to extract information and samples and everything else they could get from her.

Drusilla's yellow eyes lingered on Seo.

"My beautiful angel, dropped from heaven to save me," she whispered, with a smile. "Pretty little shiny one."

"THE VAMPIRE SPEAKS ONLY NONSENSE," said the Dalek leading Drusilla inside. "HER ANSWERS ARE UNINTELLIGIBLE."

"TESTS AND ANALYSIS ON THE VAMPIRE HAVE BEEN COMPLETED," said the Dalek who'd been interrogating Seo. "THE VAMPIRE WILL BE EXT—"

"No, wait!" Seo cried. "Don't… please. I'll tell you anything, just don't… hurt her."

All eye-stalks swiveled around to face Seo.

And Seo had the uneasy feeling… that the Daleks had done this on purpose. To force Seo to tell them everything she knew.

"YOU WILL TELL US THE CONNECTION BETWEEN VAMPIRES AND THE SLAYERS," said the Dalek interrogator. "YOU WILL TELL US _EVERYTHING_."

"I don't know everything!" Seo protested.

"THEN THE VAMPIRE WILL BE EXT—!"

"No, wait!" Seo didn't know how much the Daleks had been able to get from the tests they'd done on Drusilla — but she was guessing they knew how to kill vampires, now. "I… it's complicated. The connection, I mean. It's dates back before humanity. Back to… the Great Vampires."

"WHAT ARE THE GREAT VAMPIRES?" said the Dalek.

That one Seo really _didn't_ know.

"Drusilla's half human, half vampire," said Seo. "The Great Vampires were just vampires. I don't know. Mom said they were very big and very evil."

"DETECTOR INDICATES TRUTHFUL RESPONSE," said the Dalek by the machinery.

"ANALYSIS OF PREVIOUS DIALOGUE INTERACTIONS IDENTIFIES 'MOM' AS A SLAYER," said the Dalek interrogator. Turned back to Seo. "EXPLAIN. THE SLAYERS KNOW OF THESE CREATURES?"

Probably not.

Well, not except for Mom.

"The Slayer does," Seo said. That was true. Mom was 'the Slayer'. Always had been, always will be — to some extent.

The Slayers, plural, might not know, but 'the Slayer', i.e. Mom, did, and… maybe that would be enough to throw the Daleks off a little.

Then, just to scare the Daleks a little more, Seo added, "And the Slayer knows all about your little scheme to use the Fountain of Kulkmattoll to destroy everything. The Slayer knows all your plans."

For a few moments, silence.

Then, "EXPLAIN THE FOUNTAIN OF KULKMATTOLL."

"Or… whatever it's called." Seo chided herself for not getting the name right. Threats were a lot less intimidating when the villains had to ask for clarification. "You know! The thing from the Sunnydale Hellmouth! The Slayer knows all about it!"

The Daleks were quiet.

"YOU WILL EXPLAIN THE FOUNTAIN'S PURPOSE," the Dalek interrogator said.

Drusilla, from her spot, broke down into hysterical giggling. "Circling round and round and round!" she giggled. "Past falls to future, future to past. You drop the axe that falls on mummy's head. Chop, chop! All dead."

Seo froze.

As she suddenly realized… as it suddenly dawned on her…

"This is before the Daleks invaded Sunnydale," Seo said. "You didn't know about the Fountain. You'd never have known. Except I…!"

Stupid.

Stupid, thick-headed Seo! Why hadn't she thought of that before?!

She needed to get free. To destroy these Daleks. Make sure the information never, _ever_ left this ship. She couldn't let that get out! She couldn't…!

"YOU WILL TELL US ABOUT THE FOUNTAIN OF KULKMATTOLL," the Dalek commanded, heading towards her.

"I will not!" Seo retorted. "And if you kill me… there's no one else who knows!"

A pause.

Then, "INCORRECT."

And Seo listened as her own voice was played back to her, over the ship loudspeaker.

_"The thing from the Sunnydale Hellmouth! The Slayer knows all about it!"_

"THE INFORMATION REQUIRED IS ALSO FOUND IN A HUMANOID FEMALE KNOWN AS 'THE SLAYER'," said the Daleks. "'SLAYER', SINGULAR. SHE WILL BE FOUND AND THE INFORMATION EXTRACTED FROM HER MIND."

"What? No!"

"YOU ARE NO LONGER REQUIRED," said the Dalek to Seo's right.

"EXTERMIN—!" all the Daleks shouted.

"So many worlds she opens," Drusilla cut in, stepping into the middle, between the Daleks and Seo. Ruffling Seo's hair, fondly. "Worlds locked away. Opened by my pretty, shiny little Key."

The Daleks paused in their extermination.

And Seo's hearts stopped.

"Don't," Seo begged. "Please."

But Drusilla wasn't listening. "Universes to unlock," Drusilla said, putting a hand down on the truth-detector. "Dimensions to reveal. You unlock everything, Seo. Such forbidden power within you, my shiny, beautiful Key."

"Stop it!" Seo shouted. "Drusilla, you can't…!"

But she could.

And she already had.

"DETECTOR INDICATES TRUTHFUL RESPONSE," the Dalek by the machinery noted.

The Dalek gun stalks lowered, all at once.

The Key.

This was something they hadn't known about Seo. Something new. Something they wanted.

The ability to unlock anything and everything in all of creation.

"The Key energy is unstable," Seo warned — both the Daleks and Drusilla. "Use me that way, and you'll be wiping yourselves out along with everyone else. You'll destroy everything. Everywhere!"

"DETECTOR INDICATES TRUTHFUL RESPONSE," the Dalek by the machines reported.

"Oh, but pretty little Seo," Drusilla whined. "Can't your _other_ Key come out to play? You will be stable, and we can have so much fun together!"

Seo stopped breathing for a full minute.

"EXPLAIN," the Dalek interrogator demanded.

But he didn't need explanations.

Seo knew that Dawn was leaking dangerous amounts of unstable energy all over the place. The Daleks would be able to track her down in an instant. Pluck her away.

And use both of them together to end the universe.

"ANOTHER HUMANOID IS REQUIRED TO BRIDGE THE LOCKED DIMENSIONAL GATEWAYS," one of the Daleks reported. "WE CAN SCAN FOR THE HUMANOID. DISCOVER ITS ENERGY SOURCE." Its voice raised, in an excited grate. "THEN WE WILL HAVE CONTROL OVER ALL OF TIME AND SPACE, IN EVERY UNIVERSE! THE DALEKS WILL BE THE SUPREME RULERS OF EVERYTHING!"

"Drusilla," Seo breathed, her anger rising. "What have you just done?"

Drusilla gave an amused smile. "Miss Edith always said you were naughty," she said. Tapped Seo on the nose. "Beep! Beep! All gone!"

"You've killed _everyone_!" Seo hissed. "You've told the Daleks the one thing they should never have known about me!"

Drusilla leaned over. Whispered into Seo's ear. "Wicked Drusilla. Doesn't want _everyone_. Doesn't care if _everyone_ is dead." She paused. "Long as my pretty shiny one is alive."

It was only then that it really struck Seo.

That the snogging and the groping and all the unpleasantness… it hadn't been _lust_. Somehow, somewhere, in some way Seo couldn't quite fathom… Drusilla actually _loved_ her.

Enough to let every universe in existence burn under Dalek firepower.

Just so Seo would live a little longer.

Seo stared. Meeting Drusilla's eyes with her own. They eyes she'd first seen so long ago, on a human face, filled with compassion and virtue. And now… the same eyes. Devoid of sanity. Devoid of kindness. Devoid of any feeling towards the greater universe.

But that love was still there.

Love for Seo.

That had survived.

Drusilla lunged forwards, capturing Seo's lips in a deep kiss, and for the first time, Seo didn't resist it. Wasn't really sure how to respond.

"ACQUISITION OF THE KEY HAS MADE THE VAMPIRE USELESS!" shouted the Dalek interrogator.

"EXTERMINATE!"

Beams of light flashed through the air, colliding with Drusilla. And before Seo even had a chance to tear her lips away from the snog so she could protest… Drusilla's body had gone transparent.

Then crumpled away into ash.

_You will cause my death. Twice._

And so… Seo had.


	10. Chapter 10

There was a simple palm scan thing, by the air lock, which Raykins activated to access VQ 17. A palm scan that beeped with the words, "Code 5 recognized. Welcome, Korjensky Intelligence Agent Deborah Raykins."

The door swung open.

"Deb!" was the scream that filled VQ 17 the moment they entered.

Followed by about a hundred girls flocking forwards, at superhuman speeds, to get to Raykins first.

Raykins laughed, as she was nearly bowled over by the greeting. All that hardness and cold precision which Dawn had seen out in the field flaked away, leaving nothing but… sheer joy in her eyes. All masks dropped. All facades fell away.

Here, she didn't need to be smart-to-survive. Didn't need to be the one-in-charge, or the interrogator, or the person-who-told-it-like-it-was. Here, she was…

Herself.

"Jordan! You're a blond, now, huh? Love it," said Raykins, with a grin. "And Ash! That blaster trick I taught you working out?"

The amber-haired girl did a double round-off, taking three pretend shots in midair.

"Next step, you get to do that in Ewilin gravity," said Jordan.

Ashley stuck out her tongue.

"And how's… Trista?" said Raykins, putting an arm over one of the Slayers who'd come to greet her. Face melting into concern, voice falling a little. "Is she…?"

"Practically recovered," said the Slayer. "The Daleks did a job on her, but… she's good, now. Almost back to normal."

"She's even started complaining about Freddy's Guxorit Surprise, again," said Ashley. She gave a shudder. "Traditional Martian cuisine my foot."

"Sounds like she's her regular self," Raykins said. Unable to keep the relief from her face. "At least we got her back before she was shipped out to the Dalek's Main Experiment…" Raykins paused. Then, with an uneasy glance towards Dawn, she stopped.

That was when the others noticed Dawn.

"Uh… Deb?" said Jordan, her stance going a little more defensive. "Who is that?"

"I'm—" Dawn started.

"Mindy Hill," Raykins cut in, without a moment's hesitation. "A human clone runaway from the rim worlds. She was on Jarodin when the Daleks attacked. I figured with all the people out there scanning for Dalek Replicants, this would be the safest place for her."

For a moment, everyone fell silent.

All the Slayers shifting into a defensive position, almost subconsciously.

"She… tests positive as a replicant?" Jordan repeated.

Raykins moved beside Dawn. "Yes, because she's a clone," she said, nonchalantly placing an arm around Dawn's shoulders. But Dawn could tell — it was a defensive move of Raykins' own. And a warning to the others.

"Deb," one of the Slayers hissed. "You found her with the Daleks. She tests positive. She _has_ to be…"

"She's not," Raykins replied, with a shrug. She seemed utterly calm and relaxed about all this.

"Yeah?" said Ashley. "Why? How do you know? How can we trust the Daleks not to—?"

Raykins met Ashley's eyes with her own. "Because _I_ said so."

For a few long moments, there was silence.

Then the others seemed to accept this. And the defensive positions dropped. The Slayers still eyeing Dawn a little wearily, but willing to take Raykins' word for it.

"Good," said Raykins, with a grin. She brushed past Dawn. "I was thinking I could leave her with Laura. Where'd she…?"

A mousy-looking brown haired girl tentatively leaned her head into the room. "Deb?"

Raykins' face broke into a wide beam, as she raced forwards. " _There_ she is!" Grabbed her up into a hug, and then ruffled her hair. "Still hanging in and staying strong! Knew you could do it."

"Stop it! You're messing up my hair!" Laura whined, squirming out of Raykins' grip. But it was clear she was only seconds away from grabbing up Raykins into an equally tight hug, herself.

Raykins turned to Dawn. Clapped Laura on the back. "I love this kid," Raykins said. "She came on here three years ago, as the most massive bookworm you could imagine. Had flunked all her combat courses back in the Korjensky System. But by the time I got promoted — best fighter you could imagine!" She flashed a proud grin at Laura. "She's like my little sister, this one!"

Laura gave a shy smile and a wave.

"She'll look after you," Raykins told Dawn. "Make sure no one kills you by accident. That kind of thing." She turned on her heels. "Meanwhile… I've got to find Viv. Send some communications to IPSA High Command. Any idea—?"

"Cabin 1F," said Jordan. "Sleeping."

Raykins grinned. "Time to wake her up, then."

Then raced off.

* * *

Vivian, a purple-haired techie, worked at the command operations of VQ 17, poking and prodding at buttons. She yawned, then scratched her bed-hair.

"I really appreciate this," Raykins said.

"Yeah, well, sleep's over-rated, anyways," Vivian said. She tapped a control on her upper-arm-band, and a shot of caffeine raced through her system. Viv then returned to what she was doing before, with the VQ's computers. "You're lucky you got this engine signature recorded with that EM field. A field like that should have wiped all your data out completely."

"Can you trace where the Dalek engine signature went?" Raykins asked, again.

"Hold on, hold on," Vivian snapped. "I'm working on it." Then, with a small smile, sneaking a glance at Raykins, added, "Don't tell me there was no one in the whole Korjensky System that could do this for you?"

"Yeah, but… I figured… why settle for second best?" Raykins replied, with a grin at Viv.

Vivian didn't pause in her calculations and inputs. "Flattery won't make this go any faster," she warned. Then, with another few buttons, the answer flickered before Vivian. "There. Got it."

"And…?" Raykins asked.

Vivian grimaced. "And you were right," she said, spinning around to face Raykins. "That Dalek ship from Jarodin is headed right for the Daleks' Main Experiment Ship. AKA the 'Point of No Return', the 'Black Hole', the…"

Vivian trailed off, as she noticed the grave look on Raykins' face.

Hesitated.

"What are they bringing there?" Vivian ventured.

Raykins faltered. Then fidgeted around in her pocket. "Viv. I…"

"Yeah, sorry, top secret," Vivian cut in. Shot Raykins a smile. "Forgot. Don't want to get you into trouble."

Raykins frowned, deeply. "Top secret," she echoed. Her voice dull and flat.

Vivian wondered just what it was on her mind that was making her so caught up. What was troubling her? Probably something with the Daleks. Bad things always had Dalek written all over them, in Vivian's experience.

"Hey, it's fine," Vivian put in, quickly. "Top secret's there for a reason. If IPSA High Command knows, that's good enough for me."

Raykins remained silent for a long moment. Then, slowly, brought a small cube out from her pocket. No bigger than her thumbnail. She turned it over in her hand, her face a blur of emotions and contemplations and consequences.

Then she tossed it over to Vivian.

Vivian caught it.

"For your eyes, and your eyes alone," Raykins said. "Can't risk direct digital transfer."

Vivian slid the cube into a reader.

Then felt her jaw drop, as she realized… what she was seeing.

"This is top secret," Vivian said. "Your notes on your mission for High Command." She shot her head up to stare at Raykins. "You could get in serious trouble for showing me this!"

Raykins looked away. "I… know." She paused. Then added, "It needed to go to someone I trusted. And… I realized… there's no one I trust more than you."

"It needs to go to IPSA High Command," said Vivian, turning back to the data. She squinted. "Who is this 'Doctor' anyways? And why is 'Sunglasses' so interested in him?"

"A Dalek-fighter, apparently," Raykins replied.

"I can see that," Vivian said. Taking in everything she was reading. "Time traveler. Defeated the Daleks on Usey, Spirodon, in the Encorto Cluster…" Gave an impressed whistle. "Ended the Dalek Invasion of Yxor!" Glanced up at Raykins. "Is this stuff for real?"

Raykins nodded.

Vivian took the cube out of the reader, and handed it back to Raykins, pointedly. "You definitely need to tell High Command about this," she said. "If there's any chance they can get this guy here, then—"

"I'm not telling them," Raykins said, in a very quiet voice, not taking back the cube. Hesitated. "Not… yet."

Once again, Vivian couldn't quiet take in what she was hearing.

Raykins ran her hands through her hair, then slumped down onto a nearby chair. "Truth is, Viv… I just don't know if I can trust them."

"High Command?!"

Raykins faltered. And Vivian could see real indecision leaking through her. Something was tearing Deb up from the inside, and she didn't know what to do about it.

"Viv," Raykins said, at last, in a low voice. "You know the Daleks are trying to create a Replicant that can set off our scans as a code 5. Right?"

"Everyone knows that," said Vivian.

"Well, what if… the Daleks got their hands on something that could help them achieve that goal," said Raykins. "Along with… a biological weapon. Someone who could literally tear the universe apart around IPSA and Korjensky and the whole human race, and shove us all into some backwater reality so the Daleks could take over the universe. If the Daleks got both of them — what would you do?"

"Blow up the Daleks' ship before it left the planet," said Vivian.

"Even if that biological weapon was a person — like you or me?"

"Yeah, but if the Daleks get that person," Vivian argued, "they'll wipe out the universe. I mean, one life versus the universe — you can't take the risk! You _have_ to destroy that ship before Dalek Command even finds out about this weapon in the first place!"

Raykins nodded, slowly. "Congratulations," she said, in a dead tone of voice. "By blowing up that ship… you've just killed the only daughter of Bunfy Sompters."

Silence.

Then Vivian shouted, "What?!"

The whole thing whirling around in Vivian's head. The words just… not making sense! Not at all!

"Bunfy Sompters didn't have a daughter," Vivian insisted. "There are no records to show—"

"Our records on her are sketchy at best," said Raykins. "We don't know when she was born. When she died. How she created the Slayer or even — if my source is right — what her name is! But… all that aside… her daughter is on the Dalek Main Experiment Ship. The only Sompters left. And if I'd followed the protocols of IPSA High Command, she'd be dead."

Vivian didn't know what to say.

"It's been driving me crazy, just thinking about it!" Raykins continued. Threw up her arms. "All my life, I've been taught to follow IPSA High Command and, by doing so, live up to the ideals of Bunfy Sompters. But what if those two forces are in conflict? What if—"

"Maybe Sompters would have agreed with IPSA protocols!" Vivian offered. "To save the world — the universe — she'd have made any sacrifice! Maybe…"

Vivian faltered, at the look on Raykins' face.

Then slumped. "Yeah," Vivian muttered. "That argument didn't sound very convincing to me, either."

For a few long moments, neither of them said anything.

"So… if she's Bunfy Sompters' daughter… how'd she get here?" Vivian asked, at long last. "Shouldn't she be long dead by now?"

"Time travel," said Raykins. She nodded at the cube in Vivian's hands. "It's why I gave you that."

Vivian looked down at it. All the pieces coming together.

"She's got a connection with the Doctor!" said Vivian.

"Probably," said Raykins. "She's almost certainly here to lure him to this century. This galactic sector." Her eyes still fixed on that cube, leaning her elbows against her knees. "And I don't know how to feel or what to do about that."

Vivian thought a moment.

Reflected on the data she'd just read.

"He… deals with time anomalies, doesn't he?" said Vivian. "So… if this Bunfy-daughter isn't supposed to be here… and he found out Daleks were involved… he'd show up to sort it out!"

Raykins didn't answer.

But Vivian was sure that she was right. "You think this was all stage-managed, huh?" she said. "You think the Bunfy-daughter's here on purpose."

"I'm sure of it," said Raykins. "You read the report. Sunglasses wants the Doctor. I don't know why, or what for, but she was willing to risk Dalek extermination and wade into a war zone just to get information on him. Who knows what she'd be willing to do to actually get her hands on him."

Vivian looked down at the cube in her hands.

"She could do _anything_ , Viv," said Raykins. "Feed the Daleks a dangerous super-weapon. Give the Daleks the ability to wipe IPSA from the face of the universe. Maybe even destroy this galactic sector. You name it! She's manipulative on a massive scale, and we're her pawns. The moment she gets the Doctor, she'll be out of here, and whatever she's fed to the Daleks will be used against us. We can't give them that chance."

"That's why you told me about him," Vivian realized. "As a warning."

Raykins nodded.

"If he shows up," said Vivian, "we have to protect him. Because if we don't… Sunglasses will snatch him up and leave us in a bigger mess than we started with."

"Yes," said Raykins. Then, sharply, added, "But be careful, Viv. She's manipulative. I told you. I… I wouldn't put it past her to have left all that data about the Doctor lying around on purpose. So she could set up a duplicate of him to fool us."

"A Replicant?" Vivian said. "Why would she…?"

"His blue box," Raykins cut in. Nodding at the cube. "It's how you can work it out. The Daleks have recorded its energy signature in his data file. It's always with him. Sunglasses could duplicate _him_ , but she couldn't duplicate _that_."

Neither said anything.

Then Raykins sighed. "Better hook me up to High Command," she said. "Private link. I have to give them my report."

"I thought you didn't trust them with…?" Vivian began.

"I don't trust them with anything having to do with time travel, the Doctor, or… the connections all this has to our legends," Raykins said. "And even if I did… they'd never believe me."

Vivian gave a small laugh. " _That's_ true."

"You believe me, though," Raykins pointed out.

Vivian grinned. "You know that already. Everyone on this ship would trust you enough to follow you straight into the middle of Dalek Hell. Just give us the word… and we're there."

"No," said Raykins. "You're staying here. I need you to look after… Mindy Hill."

Vivian thought it through a long while.

"Mindy Hill," she repeated. Then, her grin going even wider, added, "Oh, don't tell me. She's actually the legendary Willnoe, but you don't want anyone to know."

"She's… legendary," said Raykins. "Let's keep it at that."

"Knew it!"

"The reality remains the same," Raykins explained. "Regardless of anything legendary. The Daleks have captured an innocent civilian whose powers they could use to destroy IPSA, if not this whole galactic sector. We have to retrieve that civilian at all costs. IPSA High Command will send a highly-trained rescue party to help with that."

"And this… Doctor?" said Vivian.

"I'm leaving you to deal with that part," said Raykins. She nodded at the computer console. "Now hook me up to High Command. I've got a report to file."


	11. Chapter 11

Seo didn't know how long she stayed in darkness.

She was dragged into and out of different cells, all containing different captured Slayers. In between, she was shoved into uncomfortable devices that seared pain through her body, or she was interrogated. Always about the same thing.

How to access the multi-dimensional gateways Drusilla had told them she could unlock.

Drusilla had died doing it, but she _had_ given Seo an advantage over the Daleks. They couldn't break her, couldn't use their machinery or equipment to alter her mind by force — and she would never tell.

They might have been smart enough to pick her up on machines, but… even their lie detector had its limits with her mind. They could never hope to control her brain.

(She hoped.)

Seo had nearly escaped at least twice, now.

The second time… she'd run right smack into the new Dalek arrival.

It was that Dalek who came out of a space ship that Seo was about to enter and commandeer out of here. And it was blood red. The gleam in his eyestalk made a chill run through Seo, even if she didn't know why.

When it spoke, its voice was lower. More commanding. "YOU ARE THE WEAPON SEOSYRAE. YOU ARE A KEY TO THE MULTIVERSE."

She tried to run, but didn't get more than a step away before she was surrounded by Daleks with twitching gun barrels, and forced back.

She soon learned that this new Dalek was known as the Dalek Inventor Prime.

This was the Dalek who built and created and designed new and more deadly weapons. The same Dalek who'd become interested in Seo because of her knowledge about the Great Vampires, the Fountain of Kulkmattoll, and… her abilities as the Key.

Things became a lot worse, after that Dalek showed up.

Because this Dalek knew something about forced coercion. And wasn't afraid to use that knowledge against Seo.

Seo had to watch two groups of Slayer prisoners get massacred before her eyes.

The first massacre began with one of the Slayers who'd been experimented upon. The girl had been ill, violently ill, had been shaking and screaming and in pain.

Then the Daleks had shot her.

And left the body there.

Hours later, the body moved. The once-Slayer's eyes now yellow. Her teeth now fangs.

Seo had recognized what was happening. She'd sprung into action. Managed to stake the newly formed vampire before it harmed anyone else.

Then the Daleks came in.

That red Dalek right at the front. Its eyestalk glaring through the darkness.

And Seo had turned, teeth gritted, anger searing through her.

"You did this on purpose," she charged. Pointing at the others around her. "Putting all these lives at risk, and for what?! Another one of your barbaric experiments!" She stepped forwards. "But I saved them. What do you think about that?"

"EXTERMINATE!" shouted the Daleks.

In only seconds, every single one of the Slayers was dead.

The Dalek Inventor Prime slid forwards. "YOU SAVE NOTHING," it told her.

And they left.

Seo standing in complete darkness, surrounded by the bodies of the people she couldn't save.

Then came the second massacre.

The next cell Seo had been thrown into… was more illuminated than the others. The Slayers more chatty and accepting.

Seo had been getting close to one of the Slayers in that cell. A very young girl, no older than maybe 14, named Jasmine. She'd been scared, and Seo had decided to try to help. Extend some friendship.

They'd gotten to talking. About childhood. About dreams and ambitions. About anything, really.

"I was so scared, when I first went out into battle," Jasmine admitted. "But I knew… I'd been Chosen. That meant I had to protect the universe from the Daleks." She paused.

Shuddered.

"But just seeing them… wipe out so many people… so ruthlessly…" She looked into Seo's eyes. Hands shaking. "I ran. Thought I'd never stop running. Just ran far, far away, until I couldn't hear them anymore. Until…" She looked away. "They caught me, though."

"And took you here?" Seo asked.

Something passed across Jasmine's face. Some flicker of… confusion. Or… was it something else?

"No," Jasmine said, frowning. Hand against her head. "No, they… killed me. I'd forgotten about that."

And then she'd morphed.

An eyestalk shooting out of her forehead, a Dalek gun emerging from her outstretched hand. Eyes suddenly growing lifeless and dull, as she opened fire.

On everyone in the cell.

Seo managed to tackle her to the ground, but not before she'd managed to kill more than half the people in that prison with them. They struggled…

And Seo only stopped when she discovered that gun barrel pointed right at her.

Seo froze.

"You have proved resistant to the nanocloud," Jasmine said. It still sounded like her. But there was something empty in her voice, too. Something grating and evil. "Unlike the others."

And Seo watched, in horror, as all the other Slayers around her — even the dead ones — began to morph in exactly the same way. Eyestalks in their foreheads. Gun barrels in their hands. Advancing on Seo with no emotion in their eyes.

Seo backed against the wall.

Scarcely daring to breathe.

"Why?" Seo squeaked. "Why are you doing this?!"

"Because the Daleks make their own bio-weapons," Jasmine replied. "They do not need you. You cannot best them. You cannot fight them. The only reason you're alive… is because they want the Key."

"I…"

"You're not special," Jasmine repeated. "You're nothing."

"An implanted personality to cover up a weapon," said one of the ex-Slayers behind her. "It's easy. The Daleks have been doing it for millennia."

"You will unlock the multiverse," Jasmine commanded. "Or the Daleks will force you."

"They can't," Seo said. Summoning up her courage. "If they were able to control my brain, they'd have done it by now! And if they kill me — if _you_ kill me — you lose the Key forever."

None of them shot at her.

But all of them kept their guns leveled straight at her head.

"So you tell the Inventor Prime," Seo hissed, "to do his worst!" She folded her arms. "Because there's no way I'll ever help him."

* * *

In the control center of the Main Dalek Experiment Ship, the Inventor Prime watched the surveillance video. Seo challenging the Slayers-turned-Daleks.

The Inventor Prime switched it off.

"THE NANOCLOUD HAS FAILED TO INFECT HER," one of the Daleks reported. "SHE IS IMMUNE TO MENTAL CYBERNETIC ALTERATION."

The Inventor Prime was quiet for a long moment.

Pondering the conundrum.

Then, in his low, metallic, scratchy voice, belted out, "ONLY IN HER PRESENT FORM."

It was a brilliant, if somewhat ambitious plan. But the Inventor Prime knew it could be done. He'd seen the device built on Draconia, and it had operated using a psychic matrix. Something Seo was still susceptible to.

"A DEVICE WILL BE BUILT," said the Inventor Prime, "TO EXCHANGE SEOSYRAE'S CONSCIOUSNESS WITH A DALEK COMPUTER. WE WILL USE OUR DOWNLOADED VERSION OF HER MIND TO EXTRACT THE INFORMATION ABOUT THE KEY. HER BODY AND ITS POWERS WILL BE UNDER OUR CONTROL."

It was a good plan.

But it was only half a plan.

The energy in her body would still be unstable. To do this properly, the Daleks had to find the other Key.

Two hours later… they did.

"ALERT!" shouted one of the Daleks monitoring the displays. "ALERT! UNSTABLE DIMENSIONAL ENERGY SOURCE DETECTED!"

Another Dalek slid over, and sunk its plunger onto a disk. "READINGS SUGGEST IT IS CONNECTED TO THE WEAPON SEOSYRAE."

The Inventor Prime understood what this must be, immediately. "THERE ARE TWO KEYS REQUIRED TO ACCESS THE MULTIVERSE," it reminded them. Recalling the information they'd gained, earlier. "THIS IS THE SECOND ONE. THE WEAPON SEOSYRAE KEPT HER IDENTITY AS 'THE KEY' SECRET TO PROTECT THE OTHER."

"SENSORS INDICATE THE ENERGY SOURCE IS NEARBY," the Dalek informed its superior. "ON AN IPSA SHIP. PROBABILITY SHOWS THE OTHER HUMANOID KEY WILL COME HERE, TO RESCUE THE WEAPON SEOSYRAE."

"THEN WE WILL CAPTURE AND USE THE OTHER HUMANOID," said the Inventor Prime. "WE WILL CONSTRUCT A DIMENSIONAL PLATFORM. WE WILL LURE THE IPSA SHIP TO A WEAK POINT IN SPACE AND TIME, AND THEN WE WILL USE A DELTA WAVE TRANSFER TO ACTIVATE AND CONTROL THE KEY!"

"WE OBEY!" the other Daleks shouted.

And went to work, immediately.


	12. Chapter 12

Dawn had watched as the official-looking people had assembled and gathered in a conference-hall looking part of the space ship. Raykins was with them, too.

But Dawn had no idea what they were saying.

"No!" Laura insisted, yanking Dawn away from the closed door with superhuman strength. "You can't listen in! Especially if you're not IPSA. It's a treasonable offense!"

"But… they're talking about my niece in there!" Dawn said. "I can't just sit back and wait while they…!"

"If Deb's promised you something, she'll come through," Laura assured her. "She always does."

That was the best that Dawn could get.

And she knew it.

Laura saw the dejected look on Dawn's face, and sat her down. "I… I'm sorry," she offered, a little nervously. "You… couldn't have listened in, anyways. Freddy's been trying to do it for nearly a half hour, now, and he's gotten nowhere."

Dawn looked up. Confused.

"Deb… is talking about going to the Main Experiment Ship," Laura admitted. She twisted around the sleeve of her uniform, shifting from foot to foot. "No one ever comes back from there. We're all… worried. Really worried."

Dawn could see it, too.

Radiating through all of them.

"You really meant it when you said I could trust her, huh?" Dawn asked.

Laura shrugged. "You're a clone, right? Well, anyone but Deb would have shot you on the spot — just in case you were a Dalek Replicant. But… not Deb." Shot Dawn a worried smile. "She's smart. Stubborn. And she always does what's right."

Dawn nodded.

Adding, to herself, that she was super-lucky Raykins had run into her. Because no one else would have _ever_ believed her story.

"I need to go with her," Dawn muttered. "Whatever it takes! My niece… has never faced down Daleks before! Not like this. She's going to get herself killed."

Laura was silent for a long time.

"I... I'm really sorry," Laura whispered, at last. "But… chances are… they've already killed her. And if they haven't… it's only because they're doing something worse."

Dawn felt a chill run down her spine.

Wondered how many people she'd have to hear say that before it actually sunk in.

Or if the only thing that would convince her… was seeing Seo dead, herself, and knowing that there was nothing Dawn could have done to stop it.

"I still wanna go," Dawn said. "I don't care what it takes. I need to go after her."

Laura shot her a warning glare. "If Deb says you're staying here, you're staying here. I made Deb a promise. And I _don't_ break those."

* * *

Inside the room, surrounded by six top secret agents reserved for the tightest security raids, which had been sent out there specifically at Raykins' request, Raykins stood.

The Korjensky Officials had been connected in by hyper-sonic transmission. Now, both they and the soldiers listened as Raykins finished her presentation. Absorbing what she'd just told them.

"You didn't tell us this much detail before," one of the Officials told Raykins.

Raykins tried to cover up her hesitation.

She hadn't been sure how much she _should_ tell them. She'd been at a point of moral crisis, after her conversation with Dawn. Had thought that maybe…

But, no.

Didn't matter what Bunfy Sompters — or whatever her name really was — would have wanted, way back when. IPSA High Command was right, and everyone had a duty to follow their orders.

Raykins still hadn't told them anything about the Doctor, though. Or about who Dawn and Seo actually were, with regard to the ancient legends.

Just… felt uneasy, every time she was about to.

"This communications network is more secure," Raykins replied. "The details of… what I suspect about the full scope of Seo's capabilities… should remain as top secret as possible. I don't want to chance any Dalek finding out about them."

"Raykins is right," said one of the recovery-team in the room. "If the Daleks found out they had this kind of deadly biological weapon under their plunger-tips… it could change the outcome of the war. Could change everything."

The Slayer President looked grim. "Then we have to recover this Weapon," he said. "At all costs. We can't let someone that powerful remain in enemy hands."

"Agreed," said one of the Officials. "Raykins. Secure the Weapon and bring it—"

"Her," Raykins corrected.

"…back to the Korjensky System," the Official continued. "We need that kind of advantage on _our_ side."

Raykins stared.

One of the six recovery agents stepped forwards. "I think we can do it," she offered. "My team's been working on a strategy to get inside that ship for a while, now. We've got some ideas on how to—"

"Need that kind of advantage on our side?!" Raykins interrupted. She felt herself shaking, as she realized… this was exactly what Dawn had warned her would happen. "But… she's a civilian!"

"She's a _weapon_ , Raykins," one of the Officials corrected. "You can't call a weapon a noncombatant."

"You wouldn't call the nanocloud Dalek-humans 'civilians'," one of the recovery team in the room pointed out to Raykins. "They were constructed to be killing machines. So was that girl."

"But she's…!" Raykins stopped herself. Didn't want to say anything stupid. She'd promised Dawn, hadn't she? And Dawn had been right, before. "I understand your decision, but… in accordance with the Slayer Constitution, I have the right to speak out against something I think is morally wrong. Seo isn't just… a thing. I saw her on Jarodin — she's a person. Someone who was willing to risk her life for a friend. Forcing someone like that to do something against her will…"

"Raykins, you know as well as I do," the President interrupted, "that if she's on that ship, the Daleks will almost certainly have destroyed any semblance of human feeling inside of her. That's what they do."

Raykins couldn't deny it.

"If there's any chance she's still herself—" Raykins said.

"Then of course, we'll take it," one of the Officials said. "That's why we authorized this mission in the first place. To recover this Weapon… I mean, this person… and bring her back to Korjensky."

"Where we'll put her under a full medical examination," said another Official. "Just to make sure the Daleks haven't altered her mind in any way. And reverse the damage, if they have."

Raykins thought about all the brain surgeons they had back in the Korjensky System. Thought about all the different techniques they had at their disposal. All the different surgical ways they could use to make someone change their mind.

Before Jarodin, Raykins would have been certain that the Officials would make the right decision.

But now… remembering how panicked Dawn had been at the thought that the Officials might find out about the Doctor… remembering how nervous Dawn had been about IPSA High Command finding out anything about her or Seo at all…

Raykins stepped forwards. "In that case… let _me_ be the judge of whether or not the Daleks have altered her mind."

The Officials all looked at one another.

"We need an impartial assessment," one of the Officials said. "You are clearly not impartial."

"Her brain and physiology won't be picked up — at all — by our scanners," Raykins insisted. "You won't know if the Daleks altered her brain. I've spoken to her aunt. I've spoken to _her_! If there's anyone who'll be able to tell whether or not she's been—"

"Agent Raykins," said one of the recovery team, softly. "With all due respect… it won't be that difficult to know if her mind's been altered. We just need to ask… whose side she's on."

Raykins stared.

But everyone in the room — and all the Officials on the screen — seemed to be in perfect agreement about this.

"The Daleks pose a serious threat to everyone in this galactic sector," said the President. "Her help could save the lives of countless numbers of worlds. There's only one reason someone like that would refuse to help us."

The logic was sound.

But… Raykins had the feeling that things weren't quite as simple as that.

"We will fix her, if she's had her mind altered by Dalek control," one of the Officials assured Raykins. "In any way we can."

By altering her mind to make sure she did anything they said.

Bunfy Sompters' daughter.

Raykins felt sick.

"You've voiced your objections, Agent Raykins," said the President. "In accordance with the Slayer Constitution, you have the right to remove yourself from this mission on the grounds of your moral objection. Do you choose to take this right?"

The Ultimate Slayer Safeguard.

Raykins had seen it work in the past, when Officials had done the wrong thing. Had seen entire groups of Slayers refuse to take part, until there weren't enough numbers to justify the decision.

But in this case…

Raykins looked around herself. At the others nearby. None of them saw anything wrong with this. If Raykins stepped down, someone else would just take her place.

Raykins mustered up her courage. "No, sir."

"In that case, you are bound by the Slayer Constitution to carry out our orders exactly," said the President. "In the event that you do not, and insist on having perpetual contact with this biological weapon once she's been brought to Korjensky, you will be tried for treason and crimes against humanity. You are within your rights to walk away at any time between now and the start of the mission, but once the mission starts, you will be unable to do so. Do you understand?"

Boilerplate line.

Raykins had given it often enough, herself, to subordinates who objected.

"Yes, sir," Raykins said. "Understood, sir."

"Good." The President turned to one of the recovery team in the room. "Agent Yelanka. You said your team had a strategy for how to enter the Dalek Experiment Ship."

Agent Yelanka nodded.

And began to explain, rapidly.

Raykins just sank back into a chair. She wouldn't be a traitor. Wouldn't go against orders. But… what had Dawn said? Something about… 'Order-Smart'?

Raykins felt a small smile touch her lips.

As she realized… she'd just found the one loophole she could use to make sure everything turned out perfectly.

* * *

The moment the super-top-secret meeting ended, Raykins reappeared in front of Dawn. Waved Laura off. Then grabbed Dawn by the upper-arm, and dragged her off.

"Don't say a word," Raykins warned, so quietly that Dawn could barely hear, "and promise me that when you both leave this place, you will never — _ever_ — return."

Dawn blinked.

Then blinked again.

"You're… you're letting me come…!" Dawn started.

"Absolutely not!" said Raykins. "In accordance with IPSA protocols, you are a civilian. You're not going into the combat zone."

"But—"

"Under the Slayer Constitution, I'm allowed to voice my objections to any order," said Raykins. "But I cannot countermand the order. By going on this mission, I am agreeing to follow my orders to the letter. Those orders are to rescue your niece and, if she is still alive, bring her back to IPSA High Command."

"Bring her to…?" Dawn breathed.

"You are not allowed on the mission to rescue her," Raykins reiterated. "But anything that might help aid our rescue operation is. And I believe the glass pillar I found on Jarodin has shielding and advanced capabilities that would justify it coming with us on this mission." She looked Dawn right in the eyes. "You agree with that?"

Dawn's eyes widened.

Oliver! Seo's ship! But that was the only thing keeping Dawn stable, unless…

Oh.

"Since you know the secrets of that pillar, I am now commanded to take you to it, so you can open it up and explain its shielding functions," Raykins continued. "In one hour's time, we will be loading it onto a stealth ship and heading for the Dalek's Main Experiment Ship. Do you understand?"

"Yes," said Dawn. "I… completely understand."

The perfect chance for her to hide inside Oliver and wait until exactly the right moment, so she could slip out and rescue Seo. Then she just had to get the two of them back inside of Oliver so they could disappear before Raykins ever got Seo to High Command.

Dawn smiled at Raykins.

Knew that Raykins was taking a huge risk for her and Seo. But she appreciated it. More than anything.

"Thanks," said Dawn. "For… rescuing her, I mean. Even if I can't come."

Raykins didn't answer. Her face completely stony, as she turned around. "Let's go figure out that shielding."


	13. Chapter 13

One of the Daleks onboard the Experimentation Ship touched its plunger to a monitor. Then twitched. "ALERT!" it shouted. "ALERT! IPSA SHIP DETECTED APPROACHING."

The Dalek Inventor Prime drifted forwards. "SCAN FOR ANOMALOUS DIMENSIONAL ENERGY READINGS."

The Daleks nearby all scurried to their posts to do so.

"SCANS CONFIRM UNSTABLE DIMENSIONAL ENERGY SOURCE APPROACHING THIS VESSEL," one of the Daleks reported.

"INTELLIGENCE CONFIRMS IT IS THE MISSING ELEMENT TO CONSTRUCT A STABLE DIMENSIONAL GATEWAY," another confirmed.

"CEASE HOSTILE ACTION TOWARDS APPROACHING IPSA SHIP," said the Dalek Inventor Prime. "WEAKEN OUR SHIELDS BY 43%. WE MUST OBTAIN THE MISSING DIMENSIONAL KEY."

"WE OBEY!" the Daleks chimed.

The Dalek Inventor Prime turned back to the interface that had been built, connected to the Delta wave transfer device. And it knew… just a matter of time, now. Soon, the Daleks would have access to everything in the entire infinity of creation. And a power that would let them crush IPSA and everyone else in this universe in a single second.

* * *

Raykins told the others that their ease at getting to the Dalek Experiment Ship had been due to her lash-up with the glass pillar's shielding.

In truth, though, Raykins hadn't understood the first thing about Dawn's time machine, when she'd seen the inside. Couldn't have made the lash-up work even if she'd been a technical genius.

Which she wasn't.

No, Raykins knew the Daleks had made it easy for them on purpose.

IPSA only had to fire one or two blows to just the right stress points in the Daleks' shielding, and the defense net fell apart. Like they were waiting for that IPSA ship to come.

And they were.

Raykins didn't know if it was the pillar they wanted, or Dawn, or both — but the presence of Dawn and that glass pillar onboard IPSA's stealth-ship was the only reason the Daleks hadn't blown the IPSA ship into bits of space-debris, by now.

That was clear.

Raykins mustered her courage. Schooled her features, so that she wouldn't give away her real plans. Then she waited, as their ship performed a smash-dock maneuver onto the Experiment Ship — forcing its way through the hull and then sealing off the hole it left behind.

No Daleks were present, outside, after they'd smash-docked.

Which meant the Daleks knew they were here. And were waiting for them.

Agent Yelanka, standing up in front of the group, was saying much the same thing. "You know what that means," she said. "We go out in stages. Spread out and make a wide sweep. Find what we want and then get out."

Raykins stayed behind until last.

Watching, as everyone else went out in pairs.

Nothing they did, now, would stop the Daleks from killing them all. They knew that, already. But Yelanka had her orders, and Raykins had her plan.

The sound of a throat clearing behind her made Raykins spin around.

Then glare at the figure who'd emerged from the glass pillar perched at the far end.

"You were supposed to stay in there until I got Seo back for you," Raykins snapped, pointing at the glass pillar. "You shouldn't have—"

"Yeah, got news for you," Dawn interrupted, leaping over to stand by Raykins' side. "If Buffy couldn't keep me out of danger, there's no chance you'll ever get close." She held out a hand. "So give me one of those Dalek-Be-Gone guns, and let's go."

Raykins was stern for a long moment.

Then gave in, and handed Dawn a gun. "At least with you around, I might stand a chance of making it out of here alive," she muttered, as she readied her own gun. "I'm pretty sure you're the only reason the Daleks didn't blow up our ship on the way over here."

Then she charged out into the Place of No Return.

* * *

Agent Yelanka had her orders.

And she would follow them to the letter. Even if that included not telling Raykins the real plan. Even if it meant laying down her own life before the Daleks.

This was why she'd been selected.

To do _this._

"Shields and teleportation jammers," said her second, managing to open a door. "In here."

The moment they entered, they froze. Face-to-face with two Daleks.

This was it.

"EXTERMIN—" the Daleks chanted.

Agent Yelanka and her second both aimed their guns at the machinery that controlled shields and teleportation. And blasted it as much to hell as they could.

Before the Dalek blasts caught them, and they screamed in the agonies of their deaths.

* * *

Seo heard the racket from deep inside the solitary cell in which she'd been placed since her last failed interrogation. There were still bodies inside the cell, Slayers who hadn't been cleared up from last time.

Seo wondered where all the remaining Slayer prisoners were.

If they were still alive.

They had to be, right? Seo knew that not all the prisoners had been killed. Not yet.

Unless that commotion outside was the Daleks killing all the rest of them. Just to prove to her that she couldn't stop them.

Seo gritted her teeth. She _needed_ to get off this ship! Absolutely…!

That was when the door opened. And two very familiar faces emerged in the doorway.

"Seo!" one called.

"Aunt Dawn!" Seo cried, racing forwards. She ached all over from Dalek tortures, but… seeing Aunt Dawn again… it just made her want nothing more than to swoop her aunt into the hugest hug she could.

So she did.

Then stepped back. "We have to get out of here," Seo warned. "We have to—"

"Your glass pillar's that way," said Raykins, who was standing nearby, covering Dawn and Seo. "Now let's get a move on and leave."

So they ran.

Ran as fast as they could, feet pounding against the grated floor.

They turned a corridor, to discover a Dalek hovering just in front of them. Eyestalk spinning around. "PRISONERS LOCATED," it reported. "EX—"

Raykins blasted it to smithereens.

"Alert's out, now," Raykins warned them, as they heard the shrieks of Daleks advancing, behind them. "Gotta run fast, or we're toast."

"I like toast," Seo offered.

Didn't stop any of them from running, though. Zigzagging through the maze of the Dalek ship, trying to go vaguely in the direction they wanted, but mostly trying to avoid Daleks.

"What about the other IPSA prisoners?" Seo said. "We can't leave them to—"

"My orders are to get you out," Raykins interrupted, glancing back at the pursuing Daleks. She gestured at them to wait, then rounded another corner, and blasted a waiting Dalek. "That means I—"

That was when Raykins heard a small 'ping'.

She looked down. Stared, in horror, at the light that had just illuminated on her belt. "Oh, no." Turned to Dawn and Seo. "Grab onto me!" she shouted, reaching out for them. "Just—!"

But neither Dawn nor Seo had the chance.

As the world shifted around Raykins, and the teleport activated. Her entire environment shifting and changing, until…

Raykins blinked.

She was at IPSA High Command.

Facing down a woman in Korjensky Official uniform, her black hair swept back into a bun. She was looking down at a series of command panels, and closed them up with an officious nod. "And… Spocky complete," she announced. Her eyes fixed on Raykins. "Special Agent Raykins. Welcome home."

Raykins lunged for the command panel. "Send me back," she said. "They were almost out. I almost—!"

"You came dangerously close to disobeying an order," the Officer cut in, sealing the command panel away in an isomorphic locking pad. "Purposely smuggling a civilian onboard a stealth ship. You are lucky the President recognized your importance to the greater benefit of IPSA's war efforts. Or you'd be in very serious trouble for this."

"I have to get them back!" Raykins shouted. " _Those_ were my orders! To rescue—!"

"We weren't certain we could trust you with the whole truth," said the Officer. "Particularly after your objections. Agent Yelanka and the others knew that they were going on a suicide mission. Their orders were to take down the teleportation blockers and shields, and make sure that _you_ remained alive."

Raykins froze. "What?"

The Officer stepped towards Raykins. "You, Deborah Raykins, are in a unique position," she said. "You have insights into the Daleks' experiments in biological warfare — more than anyone else before you, now that you've seen their Main Experiment Ship. You have had exposure to this Weapon — which the Daleks have gathered extensive data on, by this point — data they have already transmitted to the Dalek Supreme. Therefore, when IPSA discovered a potential biological super-weapon had been unearthed in Someleydaya, it was clear that there was only one Agent suitable for the job."

"Yes, fine, anything!" Raykins retorted. "Just get me back to that ship!"

"You don't understand my meaning," said the Officer. "That was a suicide mission. As we speak, high-powered IPSA missiles are on their way to destroy the Dalek's Main Experiment Ship completely. Leaving no trace behind."

For a few long moments, there was silence.

Raykins couldn't speak.

Realizing… this had been a ruse. A set-up. To get her onto that ship.

"You… you never _cared_ about rescuing—" Raykins started.

"The Daleks have had a vampire and a deadly super-weapon onboard that ship," said the Officer. "IPSA protocols are very clear. The ship and anything onboard which might benefit the Dalek war efforts must be destroyed."

Raykins felt something dark rising up inside of her. A surge of utter anger and disgust. "You have no idea what you've just—!"

"I have every idea," said the Officer. " _I_ put together this whole plan, Agent Raykins. Because I knew… you were the only agent smart enough to pull it off." She pressed a small button, and an image shimmered into the air. Showing a mostly-buried body, looking like a stitched-together part-cyborg, part-demon, and part-human. It seemed to be utterly dead and lifeless. "Now. This is the latest image from Someleydaya."

Raykins couldn't think about that.

Couldn't think about any of this.

"How long until the missiles strike?" Raykins snapped. "How long before…?"

"We got you out about a minute and a half before the missiles were due to strike," said the Officer. She glanced down at her watch. "Which means, with transfer time involved, the missiles will strike right about…"

From a far wall, a screen gave a spurt of information on missile trajectories.

And then a printout of a successful hit.

"Now," said the Officer.

Raykins felt her heart sink. She'd failed. How had she failed?! She'd done everything she'd thought was right, and now… now…

They were both dead.

Dawn Sompters. And the unknown daughter of Bunfy Sompters.

They were dead, and it was all Deborah Raykins' fault! All her stupid fault for not making sure they got out of there! All…!

No.

Raykins snapped her eyes over to the Officer.

Her hands bunching into fists. Her anger rising through her, snaking around inside like something living and desperate to surface.

No. _She_ hadn't been at fault.

"So, Agent Raykins," said the Officer. "Are you ready for your next assignment?"

Raykins remained silent for a long while.

Then, "What's your name?"

"Officer June T. Marya," the Officer reported. "The one who saw your full potential."

Raykins stepped forwards. "In that case, Officer June T. Marya," Raykins whispered, her voice low and threatening, "I'll do what you say. I'll go to Earth. I'll make sure the Daleks lose this war." Her eyes gleamed with something hard and desperately angry. "But I won't play your games anymore. You got that?"

Officer Marya didn't seem to pick up on the threat. "If you insist, Agent Raykins. Dismissed."

Raykins spun around.

Oh, yes.

She'd make sure the Daleks lost this war.

And then, she swore — upon everything she held dear — that she was going to make the Korjensky Officials _pay_ for this. She would hunt them down to the far side of the Milky Way, if she had to, but she wouldn't stop until IPSA and Korjensky and all of it was crushed out of existence.

The group that had betrayed her.

And everything she thought she understood.

"You don't know who you just killed, Officer Marya," Deborah Raykins muttered under her breath. "But I do. And after this war's over, I'll make sure every other Slayer out there does, too. Turn them all against you. Just you wait and see."


	14. Chapter 14

Almost the moment Raykins disappeared, Seo and Dawn found themselves racing right into a dead end. Looking around themselves, realizing — in terror — that they were surrounded.

Dawn brandished the gun. "Don't move, or I fire!" she shouted.

But no sooner had she said it, the gun seemed to melt in her hands, and she yelped in alarm.

"WEAPON NEUTRALIZED," said the Daleks. "PRISONERS WILL MOVE!"

Seo's eyes went wide with horror.

Dawn could even see her shaking.

"What… what are you going to…?" Seo asked.

"PRISONERS WILL MOVE!" the Daleks shouted, their guns twitching. "OR THE PRISONERS WILL BE EXTERMINATED!"

Dawn looked between Seo and the Daleks. "I don't…"

"Drusilla told them about the Key," said Seo. She met her aunt's eyes with misery and devastation written through her. "I'm so sorry."

Oh.

Oh, God. This was _way_ beyond bad.

A blast from a Dalek gun struck a spot next to Dawn's left leg, and Dawn jumped.

"PRISONERS WILL MOVE!" the Daleks shrieked. "MOVE! MOVE!"

Seo and Dawn moved.

Dawn frantically trying to think of a way this wasn't the end of the universe.

Ha! That was it!

Dawn leaned over to Seo, as they were marched down the corridors. "It's going to be okay!" she whispered. "They can't end the universe. I mean, they need our blood, right? That's what makes this whole portal-thing happen. But they don't have any hands, so they can't…"

"They can," Seo said, quietly.

There was something heavy and horrible in her voice which implied… she knew it first-hand.

Dawn swallowed. Then strengthened her resolve. "Okay. Plan B. They're… well, they're super-excited about exterminating." Gestured to her right. "Just look at them! Gun barrels twitching. They can barely stop themselves."

"I don't want to die," Seo said. Looked away, biting her lower lip. "I'm sorry. I just… _don't_."

Yeah, but the Daleks needed Seo alive, anyways, to create and maintain the portal with her mental powers. Dawn, on the other hand, was going to die no matter what. Either from being bled to death, or…

"Hey, Dalek!" Dawn shouted, racing forwards to stand in its way. "You smell! Also, your mom was so fat, they named a hippo after her at the zoo."

"THE PRISONER WILL CONTINUE MOVING!" the Daleks shouted.

"Or what?" said Dawn. "You'll shoot me? Or are you too chicken to do that?" She began to wave her arms and make chicken noises.

Seo grabbed her up and dragged her away. Fearful eyes fixed on the Daleks. "She didn't mean it."

"Yes, I did!" said Dawn, struggling to try to free herself from Seo's grip. Then gritted to Seo, through her teeth, "I'm going to die no matter what! This is the only way to save the universe."

"I don't want you to die any more than I want me to die!" Seo hissed back. She shuddered. "Too many people have died here already."

Dawn managed to free herself from Seo, and dart forwards. Running fast as she could down the corridor, and through a door into the next room up. Glancing back over her shoulder.

"Oh, look!" Dawn shouted at them. "I'm getting away! You'd better—"

But as she raced across a metal disk in the center of the room, a sudden force yanked at her, as an energy field sprung up around her feet. The force shoved her back against a metal beam, hands and ankles being secured by automatic clamps.

When the energy field disappeared, Dawn was too tightly secured to hope to escape.

A yelp from Seo, and Dawn turned her head. Could see that Seo, rushing to try to help Dawn, had been caught by the same trick — just on the edge of the metal disk. The energy field dragging her backwards, Seo kicking and fighting all the time, until she was restrained to metal beam on the outer reaches of the metal disk.

"THE PRISONERS ARE SECURED," shouted a Dalek.

"PREPARE SPECIAL WEAPONS DALEK FOR BLOOD EXTRACTION PROCEEDURE," another commanded. "FULL DIMENSIONAL CONTROL WILL BELONG TO THE DALEKS!"

Across the room, a Dalek spun around. "IPSA MISSILES DETECTED APPROACHING THIS VESSEL. SHIELD INTEGRITY HAS BEEN PERMANENTLY COMPROMISED."

"MISSILE ATTACK WILL DESTROY THIS VESSEL IN 40 RELS," said another Dalek.

"So we won after all," Dawn muttered. "We're just going to be too dead to feel happy about it. Great!"

"INCORRECT!" the nearest Dalek replied.

Seo slumped in her bonds. "If they gain access to the dimensional corridors," she explained, "they'll swallow this ship into a dimensional pocket. The missiles wouldn't hit."

"CORRECT," the nearest Dalek confirmed. Then turned to the others. "ACTIVATE SPECIAL WEAPONS DALEK! PRIME THE DELTA TRANSFER!"

A Dalek emerged from the shadows, then — one with swords and knives and a thousand whirring sharp things protruding from it. Something metal clamped down on Seo's head, and she grunted, as if trying to force down a shriek.

All up to Dawn, now.

"The Doctor!" Dawn shouted out.

Every single Dalek there seemed to jerk at mention of the Doctor's name.

Even the Special Weapons Dalek hesitated and slowed at mention of the Doctor.

"EXPLAIN," demanded the Dalek just in front of Dawn.

Dawn smiled. Gotcha.

"He told me you guys couldn't exterminate your way out of a paper bag!" Dawn said. "Because you suck! You're not supreme — you're wimps! The Doctor was more scared of my mom than of you!"

"SILENCE!" shouted the Daleks, now feeling agitated. "SILENCE!"

"THE DALEKS ARE SUPREME!" shouted the nearest Dalek. "THE PRISONER WILL BE SILENT, OR YOU WILL BE EXTERMINATED!"

Obviously, that was the important Dalek. So Dawn addressed all her comments to it, specifically.

"Dawn!" Seo hissed, in warning.

Behind them, one Dalek reported, "PRIMING OF THE DELTA TRANSFER SYSTEMS COMPLETE. INITIATING FULL DELTA TRANSFER."

Dawn didn't know what this meant, but pressed on anyways. "I mean, seriously, the Doctor's regenerated, like, 10 times already," Dawn pointed out. "And never from you guys! That's a pretty sucky record. Talk about biggest wusses in the universe!"

"EXTERMINATE!" shouted the nearest Dalek, completely losing its cool.

Which was when Seo wrenched open her chains, and threw herself forwards, in front of Dawn.

The beam struck Seo full-on.

Seared through her, entire body lit up in a bright burst of light, skeleton shining through as a scream of utter agony was wrenched from her lips. It lasted only a moment, one blinding, horrible moment, before Seo dropped to the floor, by Dawn's feet.

Dead.

Dawn stared. Her heart pounding. Her brain unable to register it. No regeneration. No fake-outs. No nothing. Seo was dead. Really dead. Struck-down-by-a-Dalek dead.

That was supposed to be _Dawn_! Seo had been supposed to survive! She'd…

She'd…

She was…

"You killed her," Dawn breathed. The words burned in her throat. "You actually…!" She struggled, trying to suppress a horrible sob. "So go on! Kill me, too!"

The Daleks didn't move.

"Your experiment's useless!" cried Dawn. "The IPSA missiles will blast this whole ship into oblivion in a few seconds, anyways! So just do your damn job as the universe's mini-Hitlers and KILL ME, ALREADY!"

"THE EXPERIMENT HAS NOT BEEN COMPROMISED," said one of the Daleks.

Dawn's blood ran cold. "What?"

"DISK REGISTERS RAPIDLY RISING, CONTROLLED DIMENSIONAL ENERGY RESERVES," reported another. "DELTA TRANSFER HAD COMMENCED AT TIME OF EXTERMINATION. FULL MULTI-DIMENSIONAL CONTROL IMMINENT."

"CONTINUE WITH USE OF SPECIAL WEAPONS DALEK!" shouted the Dalek in charge.

The Special Weapons Dalek advanced forwards.

No.

No!

Either of their deaths should have been enough to halt the end of the universe, but… it looked like Seo wasn't exactly like Dawn, after all. Her energy could be released even without blood. Just by dying forever.

The universe was doomed.

Dawn was doomed.

Seo was dead, the IPSA missile would never strike in time, and the Daleks would use the power to rule every single dimension and every single universe, across all of time and space and the infinity of creation, and there was nothing Dawn could do about it! Nothing…!

The Special Weapons Dalek halted the moment he hit the disk. Froze, as if completely immobilized.

"WHY HAVE YOU STOPPED?" demanded the Dalek in charge. "EXPLAIN! EXPLAIN!"

The Special Weapons Dalek tried to move forwards, but the effort clearly was doing nothing for him. "I CANNOT MOVE. I…" The Special Weapons Dalek twitched. "SENSORS DETECT MASSIVE… ENERGY… DECREA…"

Then the eyestalk drooped. And the light in its eyes went dead.

"ALERT!" shouted one of the Daleks. "ALERT! ANOMALOUS READING EMITTED FROM DISK!"

"IPSA MISSILE COLLISION IN FIVE RELLS!" shouted another.

The lead Dalek began jumping and jolting in irritation. "THE DIMENSIONAL GATEWAY MUST BE CLAIMED!" he shrieked. "THE DALEKS MUST REIGN ACROSS…!"

The flash and crash and bang swept across Dawn's eyes, as the bomb struck.

Except…

Dawn peeled open her eyes, again.

It… had struck, right? She'd felt it striking the ship. She'd felt the air beginning to ignite and burn away. She'd felt…

"WHAT IS HAPPENING?" shouted the lead Dalek, clearly just as baffled as Dawn was. "REPORT! REPORT!"

A low laugh echoed from down by Dawn's feet. A low laugh… coming from…

Seo picked herself up, off the ground. "Oh, now that feels _good_ ," she said, stretching as if getting up after a long nap. "Mmm, mmm, mmm! Power-sucking a high-grade explosion. Brilliant! Never get enough of that." Her eyes fell on the Daleks. "Oh. And you must be the boys who let me out."

The Daleks, clearly floored that they hadn't actually killed her, began to shout, "EXTERMINATE!"

The beams flashed through her, as Seo spread open her arms, and let them strike, every single beam illuminating her skeleton for a single second, but not felling her. She laughed, as they ran through her.

"Keep it coming!" Seo shouted. "All that energy? Massive head-rush. No, actually, on second thought…" She reached out and caught one of the beams, frozen in midair, in her hands. Then yanked on it, hard, until the Daleks around Seo and Dawn began to scream, and harsh light zipped from their metal husks. Swirling towards Seo. "Just like that! Come on! You know you want to!"

"Seo… what…?" Dawn stuttered, as the lights on the space ship began to flicker, the systems began to power down.

"Do you know what the difference is between a Key and a Dimensional Node?" Seo asked. She grinned. Gesturing around her. "Energy. Dimensional Nodes have to suck up energy from everything around them. The whole dimension and the whole universe. But us? We've got our own energy. Don't _have to_ suck anything from anyone." She laughed. "But it sure feels good doing it, anyways!"

Oh, God.

That was what she was doing.

Draining energy from the Daleks, from the ship, from everything and everyone around her, even draining energy from the IPSA prisoners, the humans screaming out in agony as Seo laughed with delighted glee. Draining their life. Extinguishing both Dalek and human alike.

And loving it.

Dawn shuddered. She had a horrible feeling… that whomever had survived that Dalek blast wasn't Seo.

Not at all.

The Daleks drooped. The ship fell silent. Not even a sound from the IPSA prisoners. No one and nothing survived… except for Dawn, still restrained. And Seo, her eyes crazed, the last tendrils of energy still zipping around her.

"Locked up for over a century!" Seo breathed. "And finally — _finally_ — she's gone. Forever. And I'm free." She turned, a huge grin on her face, exactly that Glory-insane look in her eyes that Dawn remembered from the real thing. "Looks like it's just you and me, now. Key."


	15. Epilogue

It had been two months since Deborah Raykins came to Earth, to the site of the dig in the Someleydaya Crater. And now… it was time.

She turned on the holo-corder.

Sat in front of it, weary and tired and worn out.

And began to record her video confession. The one that declared her a traitor… as of tomorrow.

And in that confession, Deborah Raykins told her story. About Dawn. And Seo. The legendary people who'd come to help them… and had both died at the hands of the Slayer Institution.

"And that's the truth," Raykins concluded. "The whole truth. Or as much as I know. The missiles hit, the explosion registered, and… now… they're dead."

She was quiet a long time. Her lower lip shaking.

"I spent… my whole life wanting to be like Bunfy Sompters," Raykins added. "And… I didn't even know her real name! We Slayers are so deluded about Sompters. People claim we worship her, but… we haven't turned her into a god. We've turned her into a propaganda tool, to validate everything the Officials say!"

She paused.

Then added, "And the truth is, half the things they say, Bunfy probably would never have gone along with."

* * *

In Lasky's Nebula, the Dalek Supreme's personal Dalek guard entered the ruins of what had once been their Main Experimentation Ship.

Daleks swarming through it, retrieving any bits of information that they could.

The Fountain of Kulkmattoll had already been retrieved from Sunnydale, in the past. The Dalek Supreme had sent his most expendable group of Daleks after it. And then he'd watched. And studied.

Just like he was watching, now.

Watching and studying.

* * *

"No one knows that Bunfy Sompters had a daughter," said Raykins. "And… this is why. Because her daughter died in the future — at the hands of…"

She couldn't continue.

She was shaking with fury, rage, and guilt.

"I can't forgive them for doing it!" Raykins shouted. "I want them to suffer for this! I want…!" She gritted her teeth. "I don't know. Revenge? Or… maybe that's not it. Maybe all I want… is redemption. Because Dawn and Seo trusted me. And I led them to their deaths."

* * *

The Dalek Supreme looked through the assorted data.

Sifted through the information on the Great Vampires, the information on the creation of vampire biological material, and the ways that the Daleks could instill that into subjects.

And through the sound feed from the prison cells.

"…was my mom…"

"…name was Buffy Summers, not Bunfy Sompters…"

"…wouldn't want me to die!"

The Dalek Supreme absorbed this with interest. He had known that the humanoid Seosyrae had a connection to the Doctor. He had known, from the Daleks who'd picked up the Fountain of Kulkmattoll, that the Doctor knew the Slayer Buffy Summers.

But the Dalek Supreme hadn't realized… the importance of it all.

Not until now.

Watching the last moments of the Main Experiment Ship. Seeing what had happened, and realizing… who had done it.

* * *

"I never thought… about how it would feel," said Raykins, "to be created as a weapon. Created just to kill, and for no other purpose. And then… hearing Dawn talk about Seo… knowing what IPSA wanted to do to her…"

Raykins swallowed, hard.

Then looked straight at the holo-corder.

"Then I think about what we're doing here on Earth," said Raykins. "A part-human, part-cyborg, part-demon creature, clearly created to be a weapon. We've been updating it — him. Upgrading him. Making him compatible with this modern age. But…"

She paused.

"…but I got the orders today," Raykins went on. She waved her hand, and a bunch of letters and numbers popped up, in her palm. Read out: "'Do not revive the creature all at once. The creature holds mystical and technological powers that cannot be trusted. Its brain must be first disconnected from all motor functions, then re-activated in stages — analyzed piece-by-piece, and wiped or altered depending on the result. These orders cannot be countermanded or altered in any way.'"

Raykins waved her hand, and the message disappeared.

She turned back to the holo-corder.

"That's what IPSA's doing," Raykins said. "Not bringing a creature back to life — they're just torturing it. Making it unable to move or even scream, as we rewrite this creature's personality to make sure it fights the Daleks. Without even caring to ask it… to ask _him_ if he wants to!"

Her eyes narrowed.

"How's that different from what the Daleks did to the politicians on Jarodin?!" Raykins shouted. "How's it different from robo-men or replicants, or anything else the Daleks have done to modify human minds in the past?!"

She paused.

"I'll tell you," Raykins added, at last. "It isn't."

* * *

The Dalek Supreme could not feel shocked. Felt only anger and hatred.

But he was coming closer to shock than he ever had before, right now.

As he saw what the monitors had picked up, just before they'd gone dead. Who had caused this much devastation and destruction. Who had destroyed his best Daleks without a second thought, with just the wave of her hand, as if it had been some kind of game.

They knew Seosyrae was the Doctor and Buffy put together.

Which meant… if the Doctor couldn't do this… there was only one other option.

"THE PRIMARY OBJECTIVE!" shouted the Dalek Supreme, turning to the others around him. "THE PRIMARY OBJECTIVE IS THE SLAYER KNOWN AS BUFFY SUMMERS. WE MUST ACQUIRE THE SLAYER KNOWN AS BUFFY SUMMERS."

It was the perfect plan.

The Slayer's mind was brilliant. He had already seen evidence of that himself, based on the excursion to retrieve the Fountain of Kulkmattoll. The battle tactics Summers had devised were still being used by the Slayers to this day, and those tactics had managed to catch his Daleks completely off guard.

She held the key information they'd need about the Slayers' origins — information they could use to crush the Slayers forever.

And, by turning the most inspirational Slayer of all time into the Daleks' tool, they would make the Slayers give up all hope.

"BUFFY SUMMERS WILL ELIMINATE THE SLAYERS!" shouted the Dalek Supreme. "SHE WILL ELIMINATE THE DOCTOR! THE DALEKS WILL REIGN SUPREME!"

And they would.

Because of the best part of the plan.

After they were done swapping her mind into the computer… her body would be controlled by the Daleks. A body that, if she held even half the power demonstrated by her daughter on this ship, would be the greatest weapon this universe had ever known.

And the Daleks would be the supreme beings.

The only beings.

* * *

"It's the same thing!" Raykins shouted at the holo-corder. "We're no better than the Daleks! We're…!"

She took a deep breath.

Managed to calm herself down.

"So I've decided," Raykins said. "As soon as I'm done with this confession… I'm creating a distraction. One that'll allow me to go down to the labs, and revive this cyborg-demon-human creature. All at once. With his motor functions still connected to his brain."

The spark of a smile appeared on her face.

"I'm going to ask him his name," Raykins said. "Treat him like a _person_. Tell him the truth about everything… and give him a choice." She shrugged. "If he doesn't want to be used and manipulated and brainwashed… I'm helping him to escape. That's my final decision."

She glanced outside. No one was around.

The Earth air was crisp and fresh with the darkness of night.

"That's my confession," Raykins told the holo-corder. "By tomorrow, I, Deborah Raykins, will be a traitor to IPSA. A traitor to the war. But _not_ a traitor to what I believe in."

She turned back to the holo-corder.

"And when you show up, Doctor Whoever-You-Are," Raykins continued, "I want you to tell Bun—tell _Buffy Summers_ … that I'm sorry. Really sorry. But everything I'm doing next… I'm doing for her." She smiled. Leaned forwards. "Hope I'll make you proud."

Then flipped off the holo-corder.

And stood up.

Ready to take her place in history.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A small story about Buffy, next. Then... we're off to find out what happens next to Dawn and Seo, in "Glorious"!
> 
> (A lot of stories in this Season will lead one directly into the next. Expect more like this.)


End file.
